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Title: Autobiography of BenjaminFranklin

Author: Benjamin Franklin

Editor: Frank Woodworth Pine

Illustrator: E. Boyd Smith

Release Date: December 28, 2006[EBook #20203]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERGEBOOK AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMINFRANKLIN ***

Produced by Turgut Dincer, BrianSogard and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net

FRANKLIN ARMS

FRANKLIN ARMS

FRANKLIN SEAL

FRANKLIN SEAL

FRONTISPIECE

"He was therefore, feasted andinvited to all the court parties. Atthese he sometimes met the oldDuchess of Bourbon, who, being achess player of about his force,they very generally played together.Happening once to put her kinginto prize, the Doctor took it. 'Ah,'says she, 'we do not take kings so.''We do in America,' said theDoctor."—THOMAS JEFFERSON

A U T O B I O G R A P H Y

OF

B E N J A M I N

F R A N K L I N

WITH ILLUSTRATIONSby

E. BOYD SMITH,

EDITEDby

FRANK WOODWORTHPINE

Printers Mark

New YorkHENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

1916

COPYRIGHT, 1916,BY

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANYJune, 1922

THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS

RAHWAY, N. J.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION viiTHE AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1

I. Ancestry and EarlyLife in Boston 3

II. Beginning Life as aPrinter 21

III. Arrival inPhiladelphia 41

IV. First Visit to Boston 55V. Early Friends in

Philadelphia 69VI. First Visit to London 77

VII. Beginning Businessin Philadelphia 99

VIII. Business Successand First PublicService 126

IX. Plan for AttainingMoral Perfection 146

X. Poor Richard'sAlmanac andOther Activities 169

XI. Interest in PublicAffairs 188

XII. Defense of the

Province 201XIII. Public Services and

Duties 217XIV. Albany Plan of

Union 241XV. Quarrels with the

ProprietaryGovernors 246

XVI. Braddock'sExpedition 253

XVII. Franklin's Defenseof the Frontier 274

XVIII. ScientificExperiments

289

XIX. Agent ofPennsylvania inLondon 296

APPENDIX

Electrical Kite 327The Way to Wealth 331The Whistle 336A Letter to Samuel

Mather 340BIBLIOGRAPHY 343

ILLUSTRATIONS

FRANKLIN AT THECOURT OF LOUISXVI Frontispiece

"He was therefore,feasted and invited to all thecourt parties. At these hesometimes met the oldDuchess of Bourbon, who,being a chess player ofabout his force, they verygenerally played together.Happening once to put herking into prize, the Doctor

took it. 'Ah,' says she, 'wedo not take kings so.' 'Wedo in America,' said theDoctor."—THOMASJEFFERSON

PAGE

Portrait of Franklin viiPages 1 and 4 of The

Pennsylvania Gazette,Number XL, the firstnumber after Franklintook control xxi

First page of The NewEngland Courant of

December 4-11, 1721 33"I was employed to carry

the papers thro' thestreets to thecustomers" 36

"She, standing at the door,saw me, and thought Imade, as I certainlydid, a most awkward,ridiculous appearance" 48

"I took to working atpress" 88

"I see him still at workwhen I go home from

club" 120Two pages from Poor

Richard's Almanac for1736 171

"I regularly took my turnof duty there as acommon soldier" 204

"In the evening, hearing agreat noise amongthem, thecommissioners walk'dout to see what was thematter" 224

"Our axes ... wereimmediately set towork to cut downtrees" 278

"We now appeared verywide, and so far fromeach other in ouropinions as todiscourage all hope ofagreement" 318

"You will find it streamout plentifully from thekey on the approach ofyour knuckle" 328

Father Abraham in hisstudy 330

The end papers show, atthe front, the Franklinarms and the Franklinseal; at the back, themedal given by theBoston public schoolsfrom the fund left byFranklin for thatpurpose as provided inthe following extractfrom his will:

"I was born in Boston,New England, and owemy first instructions inliterature to the freegrammar-schoolsestablished there. Itherefore give onehundred pounds sterlingto my executors, to be bythem ... paid over to themanagers or directors ofthe free schools in mynative town of Boston, tobe by them ... put out tointerest, and so continuedat interest forever, which

interest annually shall belaid out in silver medals,and given as honoraryrewards annually by thedirectors of the said freeschools belonging to thesaid town, in such manneras to the discretion of theselectmen of the saidtown shall seem meet."

B. FRANKLIN

B. Franklin's signatureFrom an engraving by J. Thomsonfrom the original picture by J. A.

Duplessis.

INTRODUCTION

block-W E Americans devoureagerly any piece of writing thatpurports to tell us the secret ofsuccess in life; yet how often weare disappointed to find nothing butcommonplace statements, orreceipts that we know by heart butnever follow. Most of the lifestories of our famous and successfulmen fail to inspire because they

lack the human element that makesthe record real and brings the storywithin our grasp. While we aresearching far and near for someAladdin's Lamp to give covetedfortune, there is ready at our hand ifwe will only reach out and take it,like the charm in Milton's Comus,

"Unknown, and like esteemed, andthe dull swain

Treads on it daily with his cloutedshoon;"

the interesting, human, and vividly

told story of one of the wisest andmost useful lives in our own history,and perhaps in any history. InFranklin's Autobiography is offerednot so much a ready-made formulafor success, as the companionshipof a real flesh and blood man ofextraordinary mind and quality,whose daily walk and conversationwill help us to meet our owndifficulties, much as does theexample of a wise and strongfriend. While we are fascinated bythe story, we absorb the human

experience through which a strongand helpful character is building.

The thing that makes Franklin'sAutobiography different from everyother life story of a great andsuccessful man is just this humanaspect of the account. Franklin toldthe story of his life, as he himselfsays, for the benefit of his posterity.He wanted to help them by therelation of his own rise fromobscurity and poverty to eminenceand wealth. He is not unmindful ofthe importance of his public

services and their recognition, yethis accounts of these achievementsare given only as a part of the story,and the vanity displayed isincidental and in keeping with thehonesty of the recital. There isnothing of the impossible in themethod and practice of Franklin ashe sets them forth. The youth whoreads the fascinating story isastonished to find that Franklin inhis early years struggled with thesame everyday passions anddifficulties that he himself

experiences, and he loses the senseof discouragement that comes froma realization of his ownshortcomings and inability to attain.

There are other reasons why theAutobiography should be anintimate friend of American youngpeople. Here they may establish aclose relationship with one of theforemost Americans as well as oneof the wisest men of his age.

The life of Benjamin Franklin is ofimportance to every American

primarily because of the part heplayed in securing the independenceof the United States and inestablishing it as a nation. Franklinshares with Washington the honorsof the Revolution, and of the eventsleading to the birth of the newnation. While Washington was theanimating spirit of the struggle inthe colonies, Franklin was its ablestchampion abroad. To Franklin'scogent reasoning and keen satire,we owe the clear and forciblepresentation of the American case

in England and France; while to hispersonality and diplomacy as wellas to his facile pen, we are indebtedfor the foreign alliance and thefunds without which Washington'swork must have failed. Hispatience, fortitude, and practicalwisdom, coupled with self-sacrificing devotion to the cause ofhis country, are hardly lessnoticeable than similar qualitiesdisplayed by Washington. In fact,Franklin as a public man was muchlike Washington, especially in the

entire disinterestedness of hispublic service.

Franklin is also interesting to usbecause by his life and teachings hehas done more than any otherAmerican to advance the materialprosperity of his countrymen. It issaid that his widely and faithfullyread maxims made Philadelphia andPennsylvania wealthy, while PoorRichard's pithy sayings, translatedinto many languages, have had aworld-wide influence.

Franklin is a good type of ourAmerican manhood. Although notthe wealthiest or the most powerful,he is undoubtedly, in the versatilityof his genius and achievements, thegreatest of our self-made men. Thesimple yet graphic story in theAutobiography of his steady risefrom humble boyhood in a tallow-chandler shop, by industry,economy, and perseverance in self-improvement, to eminence, is themost remarkable of all theremarkable histories of our self-

made men. It is in itself a wonderfulillustration of the results possible tobe attained in a land of unequaledopportunity by following Franklin'smaxims.

Franklin's fame, however, was notconfined to his own country.Although he lived in a centurynotable for the rapid evolution ofscientific and political thought andactivity, yet no less a keen judgeand critic than Lord Jeffrey, thefamous editor of the EdinburghReview, a century ago said that "in

one point of view the name ofFranklin must be considered asstanding higher than any of theothers which illustrated theeighteenth century. Distinguished asa statesman, he was equally great asa philosopher, thus uniting inhimself a rare degree of excellencein both these pursuits, to excel ineither of which is deemed thehighest praise."

Franklin has indeed been aptlycalled "many-sided." He waseminent in science and public

service, in diplomacy and inliterature. He was the Edison of hisday, turning his scientificdiscoveries to the benefit of hisfellow-men. He perceived theidentity of lightning and electricityand set up the lightning rod. Heinvented the Franklin stove, stillwidely used, and refused to patentit. He possessed a masterlyshrewdness in business andpractical affairs. Carlyle called himthe father of all the Yankees. Hefounded a fire company, assisted in

founding a hospital, and improvedthe cleaning and lighting of streets.He developed journalism,established the AmericanPhilosophical Society, the publiclibrary in Philadelphia, and theUniversity of Pennsylvania. Heorganized a postal system for thecolonies, which was the basis of thepresent United States Post Office.Bancroft, the eminent historian,called him "the greatest diplomatistof his century." He perfected theAlbany Plan of Union for the

colonies. He is the only statesmanwho signed the Declaration ofIndependence, the Treaty ofAlliance with France, the Treaty ofPeace with England, and theConstitution. As a writer, he hasproduced, in his Autobiography andin Poor Richard's Almanac, twoworks that are not surpassed bysimilar writing. He receivedhonorary degrees from Harvard andYale, from Oxford and St. Andrews,and was made a fellow of the RoyalSociety, which awarded him the

Copley gold medal for improvingnatural knowledge. He was one ofthe eight foreign associates of theFrench Academy of Science.

The careful study of theAutobiography is also valuablebecause of the style in which it iswritten. If Robert Louis Stevensonis right in believing that hisremarkable style was acquired byimitation then the youth who wouldgain the power to express his ideasclearly, forcibly, and interestinglycannot do better than to study

Franklin's method. Franklin's famein the scientific world was duealmost as much to his modest,simple, and sincere manner ofpresenting his discoveries and tothe precision and clearness of thestyle in which he described hisexperiments, as to the results hewas able to announce. Sir HumphryDavy, the celebrated Englishchemist, himself an excellentliterary critic as well as a greatscientist, said: "A singular felicityguided all Franklin's researches,

and by very small means heestablished very grand truths. Thestyle and manner of his publicationon electricity are almost as worthyof admiration as the doctrine itcontains."

Franklin's place in literature is hardto determine because he was notprimarily a literary man. His aim inhis writings as in his life work wasto be helpful to his fellow-men. Forhim writing was never an end initself, but always a means to an end.Yet his success as a scientist, a

statesman, and a diplomat, as wellas socially, was in no little part dueto his ability as a writer. "Hisletters charmed all, and made hiscorrespondence eagerly sought. Hispolitical arguments were the joy ofhis party and the dread of hisopponents. His scientificdiscoveries were explained inlanguage at once so simple and soclear that plow-boy and exquisitecould follow his thought or hisexperiment to its conclusion." [1]

As far as American literature isconcerned, Franklin has nocontemporaries. Before theAutobiography only one literarywork of importance had beenproduced in this country—CottonMather's Magnalia, a churchhistory of New England in aponderous, stiff style. Franklin wasthe first American author to gain awide and permanent reputation inEurope. The Autobiography, PoorRichard, Father Abraham's Speechor The Way to Wealth, as well as

some of the Bagatelles, are aswidely known abroad as anyAmerican writings. Franklin mustalso be classed as the firstAmerican humorist.

English literature of the eighteenthcentury was characterized by thedevelopment of prose. Periodicalliterature reached its perfectionearly in the century in The Tatlerand The Spectator of Addison andSteele. Pamphleteers flourishedthroughout the period. The homelierprose of Bunyan and Defoe

gradually gave place to the moreelegant and artificial language ofSamuel Johnson, who set thestandard for prose writing from1745 onward. This century saw thebeginnings of the modern novel, inFielding's Tom Jones, Richardson'sClarissa Harlowe, Sterne'sTristram Shandy, and Goldsmith'sVicar of Wakefield. Gibbon wroteThe Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire, Hume his History ofEngland, and Adam Smith theWealth of Nations.

In the simplicity and vigor of hisstyle Franklin more nearlyresembles the earlier group ofwriters. In his first essays he wasnot an inferior imitator of Addison.In his numerous parables, moralallegories, and apologues heshowed Bunyan's influence. ButFranklin was essentially ajournalist. In his swift, terse style,he is most like Defoe, who was thefirst great English journalist andmaster of the newspaper narrative.The style of both writers is marked

by homely, vigorous expression,satire, burlesque, repartee. Here thecomparison must end. Defoe and hiscontemporaries were authors. Theirvocation was writing and theirsuccess rests on the imaginative orcreative power they displayed. Toauthorship Franklin laid no claim.He wrote no work of theimagination. He developed onlyincidentally a style in many respectsas remarkable as that of his Englishcontemporaries. He wrote the bestautobiography in existence, one of

the most widely known collectionsof maxims, and an unsurpassedseries of political and socialsatires, because he was a man ofunusual scope of power andusefulness, who knew how to tellhis fellow-men the secrets of thatpower and that usefulness.

THE STORY OF THEAUTOBIOGRAPHY

The account of how Franklin'sAutobiography came to be written

and of the adventures of the originalmanuscript forms in itself aninteresting story. TheAutobiography is Franklin's longestwork, and yet it is only a fragment.The first part, written as a letter tohis son, William Franklin, was notintended for publication; and thecomposition is more informal andthe narrative more personal than inthe second part, from 1730 on,which was written with a view topublication. The entire manuscriptshows little evidence of revision. In

fact, the expression is so homelyand natural that his grandson,William Temple Franklin, in editingthe work changed some of thephrases because he thought theminelegant and vulgar.

Franklin began the story of his lifewhile on a visit to his friend,Bishop Shipley, at Twyford, inHampshire, southern England, in1771. He took the manuscript,completed to 1731, with him whenhe returned to Philadelphia in 1775.It was left there with his other

papers when he went to France inthe following year, and disappearedduring the confusion incident to theRevolution. Twenty-three pages ofclosely written manuscript fell intothe hands of Abel James, an oldfriend, who sent a copy to Franklinat Passy, near Paris, urging him tocomplete the story. Franklin took upthe work at Passy in 1784 andcarried the narrative forward a fewmonths. He changed the plan to meethis new purpose of writing tobenefit the young reader. His work

was soon interrupted and was notresumed until 1788, when he was athome in Philadelphia. He was nowold, infirm, and suffering, and wasstill engaged in public service.Under these discouraging conditionsthe work progressed slowly. Itfinally stopped when the narrativereached the year 1757. Copies ofthe manuscript were sent to friendsof Franklin in England and France,among others to Monsieur LeVeillard at Paris.

The first edition of the

Autobiography was published inFrench at Paris in 1791. It wasclumsily and carelessly translated,and was imperfect and unfinished.Where the translator got themanuscript is not known. LeVeillard disclaimed any knowledgeof the publication. From this faultyFrench edition many others wereprinted, some in Germany, two inEngland, and another in France, sogreat was the demand for the work.

In the meantime the originalmanuscript of the Autobiography

had started on a varied andadventurous career. It was left byFranklin with his other works to hisgrandson, William Temple Franklin,whom Franklin designated as hisliterary executor. When TempleFranklin came to publish hisgrandfather's works in 1817, he sentthe original manuscript of theAutobiography to the daughter of LeVeillard in exchange for her father'scopy, probably thinking the clearertranscript would make betterprinter's copy. The original

manuscript thus found its way to theLe Veillard family and connections,where it remained until sold in1867 to Mr. John Bigelow, UnitedStates Minister to France. By him itwas later sold to Mr. E. DwightChurch of New York, and passedwith the rest of Mr. Church's libraryinto the possession of Mr. Henry E.Huntington. The original manuscriptof Franklin's Autobiography nowrests in the vault in Mr. Huntington'sresidence at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street, New York City.

When Mr. Bigelow came toexamine his purchase, he wasastonished to find that what peoplehad been reading for years as theauthentic Life of Benjamin Franklinby Himself, was only a garbled andincomplete version of the realAutobiography. Temple Franklinhad taken unwarranted libertieswith the original. Mr. Bigelow sayshe found more than twelve hundredchanges in the text. In 1868,therefore, Mr. Bigelow publishedthe standard edition of Franklin's

Autobiography. It corrected errorsin the previous editions and was thefirst English edition to contain theshort fourth part, comprising the lastfew pages of the manuscript, writtenduring the last year of Franklin'slife. Mr. Bigelow republished theAutobiography, with additionalinteresting matter, in three volumesin 1875, in 1905, and in 1910. Thetext in this volume is that of Mr.Bigelow's editions.[2]

The Autobiography has been

reprinted in the United States manyscores of times and translated intoall the languages of Europe. It hasnever lost its popularity and is stillin constant demand at circulatinglibraries. The reason for thispopularity is not far to seek. For inthis work Franklin told in aremarkable manner the story of aremarkable life. He displayed hardcommon sense and a practicalknowledge of the art of living. Heselected and arranged his material,perhaps unconsciously, with the

unerring instinct of the journalist forthe best effects. His success is not alittle due to his plain, clear,vigorous English. He used shortsentences and words, homelyexpressions, apt illustrations, andpointed allusions. Franklin had amost interesting, varied, andunusual life. He was one of thegreatest conversationalists of histime.

His book is the record of thatunusual life told in Franklin's ownunexcelled conversational style. It

is said that the best parts ofBoswell's famous biography ofSamuel Johnson are those partswhere Boswell permits Johnson totell his own story. In theAutobiography a no lessremarkable man and talker thanSamuel Johnson is telling his ownstory throughout.

F. W. P.

THE GILMAN COUNTRY SCHOOL, Baltimore, September, 1916.

ThePennsylvaniaGAZETTE

Page 1

ThePennsylvaniaGAZETTE

Page 4

Pages 1 and 4 of The PennsylvaniaGazette, the first number after Franklintook control. Reduced nearly one-half.Reproduced from a copy at the NewYork Public Library.

[1] The Many-Sided Franklin.Paul L. Ford.

[2] For the division into

chapters and the chapter titles,however, the present editor isresponsible.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

I

ANCESTRY AND EARLYYOUTH IN BOSTON

TWYFORD,[3] at the Bishop of St.Asaph's, 1771.

block-d EAR SON: I have ever hadpleasure in obtaining any littleanecdotes of my ancestors. You mayremember the inquiries I madeamong the remains of my relationswhen you were with me in England,and the journey I undertook for that

purpose. Imagining it may beequally agreeable to you to knowthe circumstances of my life, manyof which you are yet unacquaintedwith, and expecting the enjoymentof a week's uninterrupted leisure inmy present country retirement, I sitdown to write them for you. Towhich I have besides some otherinducements. Having emerged fromthe poverty and obscurity in which Iwas born and bred, to a state ofaffluence and some degree ofreputation in the world, and having

gone so far through life with aconsiderable share of felicity, theconducing means I made use of,which with the blessing of God sowell succeeded, my posterity maylike to know, as they may find someof them suitable to their ownsituations, and therefore fit to beimitated.

That felicity, when I reflected on it,has induced me sometimes to say,that were it offered to my choice, Ishould have no objection to arepetition of the same life from its

beginning, only asking theadvantages authors have in a secondedition to correct some faults of thefirst. So I might, besides correctingthe faults, change some sinisteraccidents and events of it for othersmore favourable. But though thiswere denied, I should still acceptthe offer. Since such a repetition isnot to be expected, the next thingmost like living one's life overagain seems to be a recollection ofthat life, and to make thatrecollection as durable as possible

by putting it down in writing.

Hereby, too, I shall indulge theinclination so natural in old men, tobe talking of themselves and theirown past actions; and I shallindulge it without being tiresome toothers, who, through respect to age,might conceive themselves obligedto give me a hearing, since this maybe read or not as anyone pleases.And, lastly (I may as well confessit, since my denial of it will bebelieved by nobody), perhaps Ishall a good deal gratify my own

vanity.[4] Indeed, I scarce everheard or saw the introductorywords, "Without vanity I may say,"etc., but some vain thingimmediately followed. Most peopledislike vanity in others, whatevershare they have of it themselves; butI give it fair quarter wherever Imeet with it, being persuaded that itis often productive of good to thepossessor, and to others that arewithin his sphere of action; andtherefore, in many cases, it wouldnot be altogether absurd if a man

were to thank God for his vanityamong the other comforts of life.

Gibbon and Hume, the great Britishhistorians, who werecontemporaries of Franklin, expressin their autobiographies the samefeeling about the propriety of justself-praise.

And now I speak of thanking God, Idesire with all humility toacknowledge that I owe thementioned happiness of my past lifeto His kind providence, which lead

me to the means I used and gavethem success. My belief of thisinduces me to hope, though I mustnot presume, that the same goodnesswill still be exercised toward me,in continuing that happiness, orenabling me to bear a fatal reverse,which I may experience as othershave done; the complexion of myfuture fortune being known to Himonly in whose power it is to blessto us even our afflictions.

The notes one of my uncles (whohad the same kind of curiosity in

collecting family anecdotes) onceput into my hands, furnished mewith several particulars relating toour ancestors. From these notes Ilearned that the family had lived inthe same village, Ecton, inNorthamptonshire,[5] for threehundred years, and how muchlonger he knew not (perhaps fromthe time when the name of Franklin,that before was the name of anorder of people,[6] was assumed bythem as a surname when others tooksurnames all over the kingdom), on

a freehold of about thirty acres,aided by the smith's business, whichhad continued in the family till histime, the eldest son being alwaysbred to that business; a customwhich he and my father followed asto their eldest sons. When Isearched the registers at Ecton, Ifound an account of their births,marriages and burials from the year1555 only, there being no registerskept in that parish at any timepreceding. By that register Iperceived that I was the youngest

son of the youngest son for fivegenerations back. My grandfatherThomas, who was born in 1598,lived at Ecton till he grew too oldto follow business longer, when hewent to live with his son John, adyer at Banbury, in Oxfordshire,with whom my father served anapprenticeship. There mygrandfather died and lies buried.We saw his gravestone in 1758. Hiseldest son Thomas lived in thehouse at Ecton, and left it with theland to his only child, a daughter,

who, with her husband, one Fisher,of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr.Isted, now lord of the manor there.My grandfather had four sons thatgrew up, viz.: Thomas, John,Benjamin and Josiah. I will giveyou what account I can of them atthis distance from my papers, and ifthese are not lost in my absence,you will among them find manymore particulars.

Thomas was bred a smith under hisfather; but, being ingenious, andencouraged in learning (as all my

brothers were) by an EsquirePalmer, then the principal gentlemanin that parish, he qualified himselffor the business of scrivener;became a considerable man in thecounty; was a chief mover of allpublic-spirited undertakings for thecounty or town of Northampton, andhis own village, of which manyinstances were related of him; andmuch taken notice of and patronizedby the then Lord Halifax. He died in1702, January 6, old style,[7] justfour years to a day before I was

born. The account we received ofhis life and character from some oldpeople at Ecton, I remember, struckyou as something extraordinary,from its similarity to what you knewof mine. "Had he died on the sameday," you said, "one might havesupposed a transmigration."

John was bred a dyer, I believe ofwoollens, Benjamin was bred a silkdyer, serving an apprenticeship atLondon. He was an ingenious man. Iremember him well, for when I wasa boy he came over to my father in

Boston, and lived in the house withus some years. He lived to a greatage. His grandson, Samuel Franklin,now lives in Boston. He left behindhim two quarto volumes, MS., ofhis own poetry, consisting of littleoccasional pieces addressed to hisfriends and relations, of which thefollowing, sent to me, is aspecimen.[8] He had formed ashort-hand of his own, which hetaught me, but, never practising it, Ihave now forgot it. I was namedafter this uncle, there being a

particular affection between himand my father. He was very pious, agreat attender of sermons of the bestpreachers, which he took down inhis short-hand, and had with himmany volumes of them. He was alsomuch of a politician; too much,perhaps, for his station. There felllately into my hands, in London, acollection he had made of all theprincipal pamphlets relating topublic affairs, from 1641 to 1717;many of the volumes are wanting asappears by the numbering, but there

still remain eight volumes in folio,and twenty-four in quarto and inoctavo. A dealer in old books metwith them, and knowing me by mysometimes buying of him, hebrought them to me. It seems myuncle must have left them here whenhe went to America, which wasabout fifty years since. There aremany of his notes in the margins.

This obscure family of ours wasearly in the Reformation, andcontinued Protestants through thereign of Queen Mary, when they

were sometimes in danger oftrouble on account of their zealagainst popery. They had got anEnglish Bible, and to conceal andsecure it, it was fastened open withtapes under and within the cover ofa joint-stool. When my great-great-grandfather read it to his family, heturned up the joint-stool upon hisknees, turning over the leaves thenunder the tapes. One of the childrenstood at the door to give notice if hesaw the apparitor coming, who wasan officer of the spiritual court. In

that case the stool was turned downagain upon its feet, when the Bibleremained concealed under it asbefore. This anecdote I had from myuncle Benjamin. The familycontinued all of the Church ofEngland till about the end ofCharles the Second's reign, whensome of the ministers that had beenouted for non-conformity, holdingconventicles[9] inNorthamptonshire, Benjamin andJosiah adhered to them, and socontinued all their lives: the rest of

the family remained with theEpiscopal Church.

Birthplace of Franklin. Milk Street,Boston

Birthplace of Franklin. MilkStreet, Boston.

Josiah, my father, married young,and carried his wife with threechildren into New England, about1682. The conventicles having beenforbidden by law, and frequentlydisturbed, induced someconsiderable men of his

acquaintance to remove to thatcountry, and he was prevailed withto accompany them thither, wherethey expected to enjoy their mode ofreligion with freedom. By the samewife he had four children more bornthere, and by a second wife tenmore, in all seventeen; of which Iremember thirteen sitting at onetime at his table, who all grew up tobe men and women, and married; Iwas the youngest son, and theyoungest child but two, and wasborn in Boston, New England.[10]

My mother, the second wife, wasAbiah Folger, daughter of PeterFolger, one of the first settlers ofNew England, of whom honorablemention is made by Cotton Mather,[11] in his church history of thatcountry, entitled Magnalia ChristiAmericana, as "a godly, learnedEnglishman," if I remember thewords rightly. I have heard that hewrote sundry small occasionalpieces, but only one of them wasprinted, which I saw now manyyears since. It was written in 1675,

in the home-spun verse of that timeand people, and addressed to thosethen concerned in the governmentthere. It was in favour of liberty ofconscience, and in behalf of theBaptists, Quakers, and othersectaries that had been underpersecution, ascribing the Indianwars, and other distresses that hadbefallen the country, to thatpersecution, as so many judgmentsof God to punish so heinous anoffense, and exhorting a repeal ofthose uncharitable laws. The whole

appeared to me as written with agood deal of decent plainness andmanly freedom. The six concludinglines I remember, though I haveforgotten the two first of the stanza;but the purport of them was, that hiscensures proceeded from good-will, and, therefore, he would beknown to be the author.

"Because to be a libeller(says he)

I hate it with my heart;

From Sherburne town,[12]

where now I dwellMy name I do put here;

Without offense your realfriend,

It is Peter Folgier."

My elder brothers were all putapprentices to different trades. Iwas put to the grammar-school at

eight years of age, my fatherintending to devote me, as thetithe[13] of his sons, to the serviceof the Church. My early readiness inlearning to read (which must havebeen very early, as I do notremember when I could not read),and the opinion of all his friends,that I should certainly make a goodscholar, encouraged him in thispurpose of his. My uncle Benjamin,too, approved of it, and proposed togive me all his short-hand volumesof sermons, I suppose as a stock to

set up with, if I would learn hischaracter.[14] I continued, however,at the grammar-school not quite oneyear, though in that time I had risengradually from the middle of theclass of that year to be the head ofit, and farther was removed into thenext class above it, in order to gowith that into the third at the end ofthe year. But my father, in themeantime, from a view of theexpense of a college education,which having so large a family hecould not well afford, and the mean

living many so educated wereafterwards able to obtain—reasonsthat he gave to his friends in myhearing—altered his first intention,took me from the grammar-school,and sent me to a school for writingand arithmetic, kept by a thenfamous man, Mr. George Brownell,very successful in his professiongenerally, and that by mild,encouraging methods. Under him Iacquired fair writing pretty soon,but I failed in the arithmetic, andmade no progress in it. At ten years

old I was taken home to assist myfather in his business, which wasthat of a tallow-chandler and sope-boiler; a business he was not bredto, but had assumed on his arrival inNew England, and on finding hisdyeing trade would not maintain hisfamily, being in little request.Accordingly, I was employed incutting wick for the candles, fillingthe dipping mould and the mouldsfor cast candles, attending the shop,going of errands, etc.

I disliked the trade, and had a strong

inclination for the sea, but my fatherdeclared against it; however, livingnear the water, I was much in andabout it, learnt early to swim well,and to manage boats; and when in aboat or canoe with other boys, Iwas commonly allowed to govern,especially in any case of difficulty;and upon other occasions I wasgenerally a leader among the boys,and sometimes led them intoscrapes, of which I will mentionone instance, as it shows an earlyprojecting public spirit, tho' not then

justly conducted.

There was a salt-marsh thatbounded part of the mill-pond, onthe edge of which, at high water, weused to stand to fish for minnows.By much trampling, we had made ita mere quagmire. My proposal wasto build a wharf there fit for us tostand upon, and I showed mycomrades a large heap of stones,which were intended for a newhouse near the marsh, and whichwould very well suit our purpose.Accordingly, in the evening, when

the workmen were gone, Iassembled a number of myplayfellows, and working with themdiligently like so many emmets,sometimes two or three to a stone,we brought them all away and builtour little wharf. The next morningthe workmen were surprised atmissing the stones, which werefound in our wharf. Inquiry wasmade after the removers; we werediscovered and complained of;several of us were corrected by ourfathers; and, though I pleaded the

usefulness of the work, mineconvinced me that nothing wasuseful which was not honest.

I think you may like to knowsomething of his person andcharacter. He had an excellentconstitution of body, was of middlestature, but well set, and verystrong; he was ingenious, coulddraw prettily, was skilled a little inmusic, and had a clear, pleasingvoice, so that when he played psalmtunes on his violin and sung withal,as he sometimes did in an evening

after the business of the day wasover, it was extremely agreeable tohear. He had a mechanical geniustoo, and, on occasion, was veryhandy in the use of othertradesmen's tools; but his greatexcellence lay in a soundunderstanding and solid judgment inprudential matters, both in privateand publick affairs. In the latter,indeed, he was never employed, thenumerous family he had to educateand the straitness of hiscircumstances keeping him close to

his trade; but I remember well hisbeing frequently visited by leadingpeople, who consulted him for hisopinion in affairs of the town or ofthe church he belonged to, andshowed a good deal of respect forhis judgment and advice: he wasalso much consulted by privatepersons about their affairs when anydifficulty occurred, and frequentlychosen an arbitrator betweencontending parties. At his table heliked to have, as often as he could,some sensible friend or neighbor to

converse with, and always tookcare to start some ingenious oruseful topic for discourse, whichmight tend to improve the minds ofhis children. By this means heturned our attention to what wasgood, just, and prudent in theconduct of life; and little or nonotice was ever taken of whatrelated to the victuals on the table,whether it was well or ill dressed,in or out of season, of good or badflavor, preferable or inferior to thisor that other thing of the kind, so

that I was bro't up in such a perfectinattention to those matters as to bequite indifferent what kind of foodwas set before me, and sounobservant of it, that to this day if Iam asked I can scarce tell a fewhours after dinner what I dinedupon. This has been a convenienceto me in traveling, where mycompanions have been sometimesvery unhappy for want of a suitablegratification of their more delicate,because better instructed, tastes andappetites.

My mother had likewise anexcellent constitution: she suckledall her ten children. I never kneweither my father or mother to haveany sickness but that of which theydy'd, he at 89, and she at 85 years ofage. They lie buried together atBoston, where I some years sinceplaced a marble over their grave,[15] with this inscription:

JOSIAH FRANKLIN,and

ABIAH his wife,lie here interred.

They lived lovingly together in wedlockfifty-five years.

Without an estate, or any gainfulemployment,

By constant labor and industry,with God's blessing,

They maintained a large familycomfortably,

and brought up thirteen childrenand seven grandchildren

reputably.From this instance, reader,

Be encouraged to diligence in thycalling,

And distrust not Providence.He was a pious and prudent man;

She, a discreet and virtuous woman.Their youngest son,

In filial regard to their memory,Places this stone.

J. F. born 1655, died 1744, Ætat 89.A. F. born 1667, died 1752, —— 85.

By my rambling digressions Iperceive myself to be grown old. Ius'd to write more methodically. Butone does not dress for privatecompany as for a publick ball. 'Tisperhaps only negligence.

To return: I continued thusemployed in my father's business

for two years, that is, till I wastwelve years old; and my brotherJohn, who was bred to thatbusiness, having left my father,married, and set up for himself atRhode Island, there was allappearance that I was destined tosupply his place, and become atallow-chandler. But my dislike tothe trade continuing, my father wasunder apprehensions that if he didnot find one for me more agreeable,I should break away and get to sea,as his son Josiah had done, to his

great vexation. He thereforesometimes took me to walk withhim, and see joiners, bricklayers,turners, braziers, etc., at their work,that he might observe myinclination, and endeavor to fix it onsome trade or other on land. It hasever since been a pleasure to me tosee good workmen handle theirtools; and it has been useful to me,having learnt so much by it as to beable to do little jobs myself in myhouse when a workman could notreadily be got, and to construct little

machines for my experiments, whilethe intention of making theexperiment was fresh and warm inmy mind. My father at last fixedupon the cutler's trade, and my uncleBenjamin's son Samuel, who wasbred to that business in London,being about that time established inBoston, I was sent to be with himsome time on liking. But hisexpectations of a fee with medispleasing my father, I was takenhome again.

[3] A small village not far from

Winchester in Hampshire,southern England. Here wasthe country seat of the Bishopof St. Asaph, Dr. JonathanShipley, the "good Bishop," asDr. Franklin used to style him.Their relations were intimateand confidential. In his pulpit,and in the House of Lords, aswell as in society, the bishopalways opposed the harshmeasures of the Crown towardthe Colonies.—Bigelow.

[4] In this connection WoodrowWilson says, "And yet thesurprising and delightful thing

about this book (theAutobiography) is that, take itall in all, it has not the low toneof conceit, but is a staunchman's sober and unaffectedassessment of himself and thecircumstances of his career."

[5] See Introduction.

[6] A small landowner.

[7] January 17, new style. Thischange in the calendar wasmade in 1582 by Pope GregoryXIII, and adopted in England in1752. Every year whose

number in the commonreckoning since Christ is notdivisible by 4, as well as everyyear whose number is divisibleby 100 but not by 400, shallhave 365 days, and all otheryears shall have 366 days. Inthe eighteenth century therewas a difference of eleven daysbetween the old and the newstyle of reckoning, which theEnglish Parliament canceled bymaking the 3rd of September,1752, the 14th. The Juliancalendar, or "old style," is stillretained in Russia and Greece,

whose dates consequently arenow 13 days behind those ofother Christian countries.

[8] The specimen is not in themanuscript of theAutobiography.

[9] Secret gatherings ofdissenters from the establishedChurch.

[10] Franklin was born onSunday, January 6, old style,1706, in a house on MilkStreet, opposite the Old SouthMeeting House, where he was

baptized on the day of hisbirth, during a snowstorm. Thehouse where he was born wasburned in 1810.—Griffin.

[11] Cotton Mather (1663-1728), clergyman, author, andscholar. Pastor of the NorthChurch, Boston. He took anactive part in the persecution ofwitchcraft.

[12] Nantucket.

[13] Tenth.

[14] System of short-hand.

[15] This marble havingdecayed, the citizens of Bostonin 1827 erected in its place agranite obelisk, twenty-one feethigh, bearing the originalinscription quoted in the textand another explaining theerection of the monument.

II

BEGINNING LIFE AS APRINTER

block-F ROM a child I was fond ofreading, and all the little money thatcame into my hands was ever laidout in books. Pleased with thePilgrim's Progress, my firstcollection was of John Bunyan'sworks in separate little volumes. Iafterward sold them to enable me tobuy R. Burton's HistoricalCollections; they were smallchapmen's books, [16] and cheap,40 or 50 in all. My father's littlelibrary consisted chiefly of books inpolemic divinity, most of which I

read, and have since often regrettedthat, at a time when I had such athirst for knowledge, more properbooks had not fallen in my way,since it was now resolved I shouldnot be a clergyman. Plutarch's Livesthere was in which I readabundantly, and I still think that timespent to great advantage. There wasalso a book of DeFoe's, called anEssay on Projects, and another ofDr. Mather's, called Essays to doGood, which perhaps gave me aturn of thinking that had an influence

on some of the principal futureevents of my life.

This bookish inclination at lengthdetermined my father to make me aprinter, though he had already oneson (James) of that profession. In1717 my brother James returnedfrom England with a press andletters to set up his business inBoston. I liked it much better thanthat of my father, but still had ahankering for the sea. To prevent theapprehended effect of such aninclination, my father was impatient

to have me bound to my brother. Istood out some time, but at last waspersuaded, and signed theindentures when I was yet buttwelve years old. I was to serve asan apprentice till I was twenty-oneyears of age, only I was to beallowed journeyman's wages duringthe last year. In a little time I madegreat proficiency in the business,and became a useful hand to mybrother. I now had access to betterbooks. An acquaintance with theapprentices of booksellers enabled

me sometimes to borrow a smallone, which I was careful to returnsoon and clean. Often I sat up in myroom reading the greatest part of thenight, when the book was borrowedin the evening and to be returnedearly in the morning, lest it shouldbe missed or wanted.

And after some time an ingenioustradesman, Mr. Matthew Adams,who had a pretty collection ofbooks, and who frequented ourprinting-house, took notice of me,invited me to his library, and very

kindly lent me such books as I choseto read. I now took a fancy topoetry, and made some little pieces;my brother, thinking it might turn toaccount, encouraged me, and put meon composing occasional ballads.One was called The LighthouseTragedy, and contained an accountof the drowning of CaptainWorthilake, with his two daughters:the other was a sailor's song, on thetaking of Teach (or Blackbeard) thepirate. They were wretched stuff, inthe Grub-street-ballad style;[17] and

when they were printed he sent meabout the town to sell them. Thefirst sold wonderfully, the eventbeing recent, having made a greatnoise. This flattered my vanity; butmy father discouraged me byridiculing my performances, andtelling me verse-makers weregenerally beggars. So I escapedbeing a poet, most probably a verybad one; but as prose writing hasbeen of great use to me in the courseof my life, and was a principalmeans of my advancement, I shall

tell you how, in such a situation, Iacquired what little ability I have inthat way.

There was another bookish lad inthe town, John Collins by name,with whom I was intimatelyacquainted. We sometimes disputed,and very fond we were of argument,and very desirous of confuting oneanother, which disputatious turn, bythe way, is apt to become a verybad habit, making people oftenextremely disagreeable in companyby the contradiction that is

necessary to bring it into practice;and thence, besides souring andspoiling the conversation, isproductive of disgusts and, perhapsenmities where you may haveoccasion for friendship. I hadcaught it by reading my father'sbooks of dispute about religion.Persons of good sense, I have sinceobserved, seldom fall into it, exceptlawyers, university men, and men ofall sorts that have been bred atEdinborough.

A question was once, somehow or

other, started between Collins andme, of the propriety of educating thefemale sex in learning, and theirabilities for study. He was ofopinion that it was improper, andthat they were naturally unequal toit. I took the contrary side, perhapsa little for dispute's sake. He wasnaturally more eloquent, had aready plenty of words, andsometimes, as I thought, bore medown more by his fluency than bythe strength of his reasons. As weparted without settling the point,

and were not to see one anotheragain for some time, I sat down toput my arguments in writing, whichI copied fair and sent to him. Heanswered, and I replied. Three orfour letters of a side had passed,when my father happened to find mypapers and read them. Withoutentering into the discussion, he tookoccasion to talk to me about themanner of my writing; observedthat, though I had the advantage ofmy antagonist in correct spellingand pointing (which I ow'd to the

printing-house), I fell far short inelegance of expression, in methodand in perspicuity, of which heconvinced me by several instances.I saw the justice of his remarks, andthence grew more attentive to themanner in writing, and determinedto endeavor at improvement.

About this time I met with an oddvolume of the Spectator.[18] It wasthe third. I had never before seenany of them. I bought it, read it overand over, and was much delighted

with it. I thought the writingexcellent, and wished, if possible,to imitate it. With this view I tooksome of the papers, and, makingshort hints of the sentiment in eachsentence, laid them by a few days,and then, without looking at thebook, try'd to compleat the papersagain, by expressing each hintedsentiment at length, and as fully as ithad been expressed before, in anysuitable words that should come tohand. Then I compared mySpectator with the original,

discovered some of my faults, andcorrected them. But I found Iwanted a stock of words, or areadiness in recollecting and usingthem, which I thought I should haveacquired before that time if I hadgone on making verses; since thecontinual occasion for words of thesame import, but of different length,to suit the measure, or of differentsound for the rhyme, would havelaid me under a constant necessityof searching for variety, and alsohave tended to fix that variety in my

mind, and make me master of it.Therefore I took some of the talesand turned them into verse; and,after a time, when I had pretty wellforgotten the prose, turned themback again. I also sometimesjumbled my collections of hints intoconfusion, and after some weeksendeavored to reduce them into thebest order, before I began to formthe full sentences and compleat thepaper. This was to teach me methodin the arrangement of thoughts. Bycomparing my work afterwards

with the original, I discovered manyfaults and amended them; but Isometimes had the pleasure offancying that, in certain particularsof small import, I had been luckyenough to improve the method of thelanguage, and this encouraged me tothink I might possibly in time cometo be a tolerable English writer, ofwhich I was extremely ambitious.My time for these exercises and forreading was at night, after work orbefore it began in the morning, or onSundays, when I contrived to be in

the printing-house alone, evading asmuch as I could the commonattendance on public worship whichmy father used to exact of me whenI was under his care, and whichindeed I still thought a duty, thoughtI could not, as it seemed to me,afford time to practise it.

When about 16 years of age Ihappened to meet with a book,written by one Tryon,recommending a vegetable diet. Idetermined to go into it. My brother,being yet unmarried, did not keep

house, but boarded himself and hisapprentices in another family. Myrefusing to eat flesh occasioned aninconveniency, and I was frequentlychid for my singularity. I mademyself acquainted with Tryon'smanner of preparing some of hisdishes, such as boiling potatoes orrice, making hasty pudding, and afew others, and then proposed to mybrother, that if he would give me,weekly, half the money he paid formy board, I would board myself. Heinstantly agreed to it, and I presently

found that I could save half what hepaid me. This was an additionalfund for buying books. But I hadanother advantage in it. My brotherand the rest going from the printing-house to their meals, I remainedthere alone, and, dispatchingpresently my light repast, whichoften was no more than a bisket or aslice of bread, a handful of raisinsor a tart from the pastry-cook's, anda glass of water, had the rest of thetime till their return for study, inwhich I made the greater progress,

from that greater clearness of headand quicker apprehension whichusually attend temperance in eatingand drinking.

And now it was that, being on someoccasion made asham'd of myignorance in figures, which I hadtwice failed in learning when atschool, I took Cocker's book ofArithmetick, and went through thewhole by myself with great ease. Ialso read Seller's and Shermy'sbooks of Navigation, and becameacquainted with the little geometry

they contain; but never proceededfar in that science. And I read aboutthis time Locke On HumanUnderstanding,[19] and the Art ofThinking, by Messrs. du PortRoyal.[20]

While I was intent on improving mylanguage, I met with an Englishgrammar (I think it wasGreenwood's), at the end of whichthere were two little sketches of thearts of rhetoric and logic, the latterfinishing with a specimen of a

dispute in the Socratic[21] method;and soon after I procur'dXenophon's Memorable Things ofSocrates, wherein there are manyinstances of the same method. I wascharm'd with it, adopted it, droptmy abrupt contradiction andpositive argumentation, and put onthe humble inquirer and doubter.And being then, from readingShaftesbury and Collins, become areal doubter in many points of ourreligious doctrine, I found thismethod safest for myself and very

embarrassing to those against whomI used it; therefore I took a delightin it, practis'd it continually, andgrew very artful and expert indrawing people, even of superiorknowledge, into concessions, theconsequences of which they did notforesee, entangling them indifficulties out of which they couldnot extricate themselves, and soobtaining victories that neithermyself nor my cause alwaysdeserved. I continu'd this methodsome few years, but gradually left

it, retaining only the habit ofexpressing myself in terms ofmodest diffidence; never using,when I advanced anything that maypossibly be disputed, the wordscertainly, undoubtedly, or anyothers that give the air ofpositiveness to an opinion; butrather say, I conceive or apprehenda thing to be so and so; it appears tome, or I should think it so or so, forsuch and such reasons; or I imagineit to be so; or it is so, if I am notmistaken. This habit, I believe, has

been of great advantage to me whenI have had occasion to inculcate myopinions, and persuade men intomeasures that I have been from timeto time engaged in promoting; and,as the chief ends of conversationare to inform or to be informed, toplease or to persuade, I wish well-meaning, sensible men would notlessen their power of doing good bya positive, assuming manner, thatseldom fails to disgust, tends tocreate opposition, and to defeateveryone of those purposes for

which speech was given to us, towit, giving or receiving informationor pleasure. For, if you wouldinform, a positive and dogmaticalmanner in advancing yoursentiments may provokecontradiction and prevent a candidattention. If you wish informationand improvement from theknowledge of others, and yet at thesame time express yourself asfirmly fix'd in your presentopinions, modest, sensible men,who do not love disputation, will

probably leave you undisturbed inthe possession of your error. And bysuch a manner, you can seldom hopeto recommend yourself in pleasingyour hearers, or to persuade thosewhose concurrence you desire.Pope[22] says, judiciously:

"Men should be taught as if youtaught them not,

And things unknown propos'd asthings forgot;"

farther recommending to us

"To speak, tho' sure, with seemingdiffidence."

And he might have coupled withthis line that which he has coupledwith another, I think, less properly,

"For want of modesty iswant of sense."

If you ask, Why less properly? Imust repeat the lines,

"Immodest words admit ofno defense,

For want of modesty iswant of sense."

Now, is not want of sense (where aman is so unfortunate as to want it)some apology for his want ofmodesty? and would not the linesstand more justly thus?

"Immodest words admit butthis defense,

That want of modesty iswant of sense."

This, however, I should submit to

better judgments.

My brother had, in 1720 or 1721,begun to print a newspaper. It wasthe second that appeared inAmerica,[23] and was called theNew England Courant. The only onebefore it was the Boston News-Letter. I remember his beingdissuaded by some of his friendsfrom the undertaking, as not likelyto succeed, one newspaper being, intheir judgment, enough for America.At this time (1771) there are not

less than five-and-twenty. He wenton, however, with the undertaking,and after having worked incomposing the types and printing offthe sheets, I was employed to carrythe papers thro' the streets to thecustomers.

First page ofThe NewEnglandCourant ofDec. 4-11,1721.

First page of The New EnglandCourant of Dec. 4-11, 1721.

Reduced about one-third. Froma copy in the Library of the

Massachusetts HistoricalSociety

He had some ingenious men amonghis friends, who amus'd themselvesby writing little pieces for thispaper, which gain'd it credit andmade it more in demand, and thesegentlemen often visited us. Hearingtheir conversations, and theiraccounts of the approbation their

papers were received with, I wasexcited to try my hand among them;but, being still a boy, and suspectingthat my brother would object toprinting anything of mine in hispaper if he knew it to be mine, Icontrived to disguise my hand, and,writing an anonymous paper, I put itin at night under the door of theprinting-house. It was found in themorning, and communicated to hiswriting friends when they call'd inas usual. They read it, commentedon it in my hearing, and I had the

exquisite pleasure of finding it metwith their approbation, and that, intheir different guesses at the author,none were named but men of somecharacter among us for learning andingenuity. I suppose now that I wasrather lucky in my judges, and thatperhaps they were not really sovery good ones as I then esteem'dthem.

Encourag'd, however, by this, Iwrote and conveyed in the sameway to the press several morepapers which were equally

approv'd; and I kept my secret tillmy small fund of sense for suchperformances was pretty wellexhausted, and then I discovered[24]

it, when I began to be considered alittle more by my brother'sacquaintance, and in a manner thatdid not quite please him, as hethought, probably with reason, thatit tended to make me too vain. And,perhaps, this might be one occasionof the differences that we began tohave about this time. Though abrother, he considered himself as

my master, and me as hisapprentice, and, accordingly,expected the same services from meas he would from another, while Ithought he demean'd me too much insome he requir'd of me, who from abrother expected more indulgence.Our disputes were often broughtbefore our father, and I fancy I waseither generally in the right, or elsea better pleader, because thejudgment was generally in my favor.But my brother was passionate, andhad often beaten me, which I took

extreamly amiss; and, thinking myapprenticeship very tedious, I wascontinually wishing for someopportunity of shortening it, whichat length offered in a mannerunexpected.

I was employed to carry the papersthro' the streets to the customers

"I was employed to carry thepapers thro' the streets to the

customers"

One of the pieces in our newspaperon some political point, which I

have now forgotten, gave offense tothe Assembly. He was taken up,censur'd, and imprison'd for amonth, by the speaker's warrant, Isuppose, because he would notdiscover his author. I too was takenup and examin'd before the council;but, tho' I did not give them anysatisfaction, they contentedthemselves with admonishing me,and dismissed me, considering me,perhaps, as an apprentice, who wasbound to keep his master's secrets.

During my brother's confinement,

which I resented a good deal,notwithstanding our privatedifferences, I had the managementof the paper; and I made bold togive our rulers some rubs in it,which my brother took very kindly,while others began to consider mein an unfavorable light, as a younggenius that had a turn for libelingand satyr. My brother's dischargewas accompany'd with an order ofthe House (a very odd one), that"James Franklin should no longerprint the paper called the New

England Courant."

There was a consultation held inour printing-house among hisfriends, what he should do in thiscase. Some proposed to evade theorder by changing the name of thepaper; but my brother, seeinginconveniences in that, it wasfinally concluded on as a betterway, to let it be printed for thefuture under the name of BENJAMINFRANKLIN; and to avoid the censureof the Assembly, that might fall onhim as still printing it by his

apprentice, the contrivance was thatmy old indenture should be return'dto me, with a full discharge on theback of it, to be shown on occasion,but to secure to him the benefit ofmy service, I was to sign newindentures for the remainder of theterm, which were to be kept private.A very flimsy scheme it was;however, it was immediatelyexecuted, and the paper went onaccordingly, under my name forseveral months.

At length, a fresh difference arising

between my brother and me, I tookupon me to assert my freedom,presuming that he would not ventureto produce the new indentures. Itwas not fair in me to take thisadvantage, and this I thereforereckon one of the first errata of mylife; but the unfairness of it weighedlittle with me, when under theimpressions of resentment for theblows his passion too often urgedhim to bestow upon me, though hewas otherwise not an ill-natur'dman: perhaps I was too saucy and

provoking.

When he found I would leave him,he took care to prevent my gettingemployment in any other printing-house of the town, by going roundand speaking to every master, whoaccordingly refus'd to give mework. I then thought of going toNew York, as the nearest placewhere there was a printer; and Iwas rather inclin'd to leave Bostonwhen I reflected that I had alreadymade myself a little obnoxious tothe governing party, and, from the

arbitrary proceedings of theAssembly in my brother's case, itwas likely I might, if I stay'd, soonbring myself into scrapes; andfarther, that my indiscreetdisputations about religion began tomake me pointed at with horror bygood people as an infidel or atheist.I determin'd on the point, but myfather now siding with my brother, Iwas sensible that, if I attempted togo openly, means would be used toprevent me. My friend Collins,therefore, undertook to manage a

little for me. He agreed with thecaptain of a New York sloop for mypassage, under the notion of mybeing a young acquaintance of his.So I sold some of my books to raisea little money, was taken on boardprivately, and as we had a fairwind, in three days I found myselfin New York, near 300 miles fromhome, a boy of but 17, without theleast recommendation to, orknowledge of, any person in theplace, and with very little money inmy pocket.

[16] Small books, sold bychapmen or peddlers.

[17] Grub-street: famous inEnglish literature as the homeof poor writers.

[18] A daily London journal,comprising satirical essays onsocial subjects, published byAddison and Steele in 1711-1712. The Spectator and itspredecessor, the Tatler (1709),marked the beginning ofperiodical literature.

[19] John Locke (1632-1704), a

celebrated English philosopher,founder of the so-called"common-sense" school ofphilosophers. He drew up aconstitution for the colonists ofCarolina.

[20] A noted society ofscholarly and devout menoccupying the abbey of PortRoyal near Paris, whopublished learned works,among them the one herereferred to, better known as thePort Royal Logic.

[21] Socrates confuted his

opponents in argument byasking questions so skillfullydevised that the answers wouldconfirm the questioner'sposition or show the error ofthe opponent.

[22] Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the greatest English poetof the first half of theeighteenth century.

[23] Franklin's memory doesnot serve him correctly here.The Courant was really thefifth newspaper established inAmerica, although generally

called the fourth, because thefirst, Public Occurrences,published in Boston in 1690,was suppressed after the firstissue. Following is the order inwhich the other four paperswere published: Boston NewsLetter, 1704; Boston Gazette,December 21, 1719; TheAmerican Weekly Mercury,Philadelphia, December 22,1719; The New EnglandCourant, 1721.

[24] Disclosed.

Sailboat

III

ARRIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA

block-M Y inclinations for the seawere by this time worne out, or Imight now have gratify'd them. But,having a trade, and supposingmyself a pretty good workman, Ioffer'd my service to the printer inthe place, old Mr. WilliamBradford, who had been the first

printer in Pennsylvania, butremoved from thence upon thequarrel of George Keith. He couldgive me no employment, havinglittle to do, and help enoughalready; but says he, "My son atPhiladelphia has lately lost hisprincipal hand, Aquilla Rose, bydeath; if you go thither, I believe hemay employ you." Philadelphia wasa hundred miles further; I set out,however, in a boat for Amboy,leaving my chest and things tofollow me round by sea.

In crossing the bay, we met with asquall that tore our rotten sails topieces, prevented our getting intothe Kill,[25] and drove us uponLong Island. In our way, a drunkenDutchman, who was a passengertoo, fell overboard; when he wassinking, I reached through the waterto his shock pate, and drew him up,so that we got him in again. Hisducking sobered him a little, and hewent to sleep, taking first out of hispocket a book, which he desir'd Iwould dry for him. It proved to be

my old favorite author, Bunyan'sPilgrim's Progress, in Dutch, finelyprinted on good paper, with coppercuts, a dress better than I had everseen it wear in its own language. Ihave since found that it has beentranslated into most of the languagesof Europe, and suppose it has beenmore generally read than any otherbook, except perhaps the Bible.Honest John was the first that Iknow of who mix'd narration anddialogue; a method of writing veryengaging to the reader, who in the

most interesting parts finds himself,as it were, brought into the companyand present at the discourse. De Foein his Cruso, his Moll Flanders,Religious Courtship, FamilyInstructor, and other pieces, hasimitated it with success; andRichardson[26] has done the samein his Pamela, etc.

When we drew near the island, wefound it was at a place where therecould be no landing, there being agreat surff on the stony beach. So

we dropt anchor, and swung roundtowards the shore. Some peoplecame down to the water edge andhallow'd to us, as we did to them;but the wind was so high, and thesurff so loud, that we could not hearso as to understand each other.There were canoes on the shore,and we made signs, and hallow'dthat they should fetch us; but theyeither did not understand us, orthought it impracticable, so theywent away, and night coming on, wehad no remedy but to wait till the

wind should abate; and, in themeantime, the boatman and Iconcluded to sleep, if we could; andso crowded into the scuttle, with theDutchman, who was still wet, andthe spray beating over the head ofour boat, leak'd thro' to us, so thatwe were soon almost as wet as he.In this manner we lay all night, withvery little rest; but, the wind abatingthe next day, we made a shift toreach Amboy before night, havingbeen thirty hours on the water,without victuals, or any drink but a

bottle of filthy rum, and the waterwe sail'd on being salt.

In the evening I found myself veryfeverish, and went in to bed; but,having read somewhere that coldwater drank plentifully was goodfor a fever, I follow'd theprescription, sweat plentifully mostof the night, my fever left me, and inthe morning, crossing the ferry, Iproceeded on my journey on foot,having fifty miles to Burlington,where I was told I should find boatsthat would carry me the rest of the

way to Philadelphia.

It rained very hard all the day

It rained very hard all the day; I wasthoroughly soak'd, and by noon agood deal tired; so I stopt at a poorinn, where I staid all night,beginning now to wish that I hadnever left home. I cut so miserable afigure, too, that I found, by thequestions ask'd me, I was suspectedto be some runaway servant, and indanger of being taken up on thatsuspicion. However, I proceeded

the next day, and got in the eveningto an inn, within eight or ten milesof Burlington, kept by one Dr.Brown. He entered intoconversation with me while I tooksome refreshment, and, finding I hadread a little, became very sociableand friendly. Our acquaintancecontinu'd as long as he liv'd. He hadbeen, I imagine, an itinerant doctor,for there was no town in England,or country in Europe, of which hecould not give a very particularaccount. He had some letters, and

was ingenious, but much of anunbeliever, and wickedlyundertook, some years after, totravesty the Bible in doggrel verse,as Cotton had done Virgil. By thismeans he set many of the facts in avery ridiculous light, and mighthave hurt weak minds if his workhad been published; but it neverwas.

At his house I lay that night, and thenext morning reach'd Burlington, buthad the mortification to find that theregular boats were gone a little

before my coming, and no otherexpected to go before Tuesday, thisbeing Saturday; wherefore Ireturned to an old woman in thetown, of whom I had boughtgingerbread to eat on the water, andask'd her advice. She invited me tolodge at her house till a passage bywater should offer; and being tiredwith my foot traveling, I acceptedthe invitation. She understanding Iwas a printer, would have had mestay at that town and follow mybusiness, being ignorant of the stock

necessary to begin with. She wasvery hospitable, gave me a dinnerof ox-cheek with great good will,accepting only of a pot of ale inreturn; and I thought myself fixed tillTuesday should come. However,walking in the evening by the sideof the river, a boat came by, which Ifound was going towardsPhiladelphia, with several peoplein her. They took me in, and, asthere was no wind, we row'd all theway; and about midnight, not havingyet seen the city, some of the

company were confident we musthave passed it, and would row nofarther; the others knew not wherewe were; so we put toward theshore, got into a creek, landed nearan old fence, with the rails of whichwe made a fire, the night beingcold, in October, and there weremained till daylight. Then one ofthe company knew the place to beCooper's Creek, a little abovePhiladelphia, which we saw assoon as we got out of the creek, andarriv'd there about eight or nine

o'clock on the Sunday morning, andlanded at the Market-street wharf.

I have been the more particular inthis description of my journey, andshall be so of my first entry into thatcity, that you may in your mindcompare such unlikely beginningswith the figure I have since madethere. I was in my working dress,my best clothes being to come roundby sea. I was dirty from my journey;my pockets were stuff'd out withshirts and stockings, and I knew nosoul nor where to look for lodging. I

was fatigued with traveling, rowing,and want of rest, I was very hungry;and my whole stock of cashconsisted of a Dutch dollar, andabout a shilling in copper. The latterI gave the people of the boat for mypassage, who at first refus'd it, onaccount of my rowing; but I insistedon their taking it. A man beingsometimes more generous when hehas but a little money than when hehas plenty, perhaps thro' fear ofbeing thought to have but little.

Then I walked up the street, gazing

about till near the market-house Imet a boy with bread. I had mademany a meal on bread, and,inquiring where he got it, I wentimmediately to the baker's hedirected me to, in Second-street,and ask'd for bisket, intending suchas we had in Boston; but they, itseems, were not made inPhiladelphia. Then I asked for athree-penny loaf, and was told theyhad none such. So not consideringor knowing the difference of money,and the greater cheapness nor the

names of his bread, I bade him giveme three-penny worth of any sort.He gave me, accordingly, threegreat puffy rolls. I was surpris'd atthe quantity, but took it, and, havingno room in my pockets, walk'd offwith a roll under each arm, andeating the other. Thus I went upMarket-street as far as Fourth-street, passing by the door of Mr.Read, my future wife's father; whenshe, standing at the door, saw me,and thought I made, as I certainlydid, a most awkward, ridiculous

appearance. Then I turned and wentdown Chestnut-street and part ofWalnut-street, eating my roll all theway, and, coming round, foundmyself again at Market-street wharf,near the boat I came in, to which Iwent for a draught of the riverwater; and, being filled with one ofmy rolls, gave the other two to awoman and her child that camedown the river in the boat with us,and were waiting to go farther.

She, standing at the door, saw me,and thought I made, as I certainlydid, a most awkward, ridiculous

appearance

"She, standing at the door, sawme, and thought I made, as I

certainly did, a most awkward,ridiculous appearance"

Thus refreshed, I walked again upthe street, which by this time hadmany clean-dressed people in it,who were all walking the sameway. I joined them, and thereby wasled into the great meeting-house of

the Quakers near the market. I satdown among them, and, afterlooking round awhile and hearingnothing said, being very drowsythro' labour and want of rest thepreceding night, I fell fast asleep,and continu'd so till the meetingbroke up, when one was kindenough to rouse me. This was,therefore, the first house I was in, orslept in, in Philadelphia.

Walking down again toward theriver, and, looking in the faces ofpeople, I met a young Quaker man,

whose countenance I lik'd, and,accosting him, requested he wouldtell me where a stranger could getlodging. We were then near the signof the Three Mariners. "Here," sayshe, "is one place that entertainsstrangers, but it is not a reputablehouse; if thee wilt walk with me, I'llshow thee a better." He brought meto the Crooked Billet in Water-street. Here I got a dinner; and,while I was eating it, several slyquestions were asked me, as itseemed to be suspected from my

youth and appearance, that I mightbe some runaway.

After dinner, my sleepiness return'd,and being shown to a bed, I laydown without undressing, and slepttill six in the evening, was call'd tosupper, went to bed again veryearly, and slept soundly till nextmorning. Then I made myself as tidyas I could, and went to AndrewBradford the printer's. I found in theshop the old man his father, whom Ihad seen at New York, and who,traveling on horseback, had got to

Philadelphia before me. Heintroduc'd me to his son, whoreceiv'd me civilly, gave me abreakfast, but told me he did not atpresent want a hand, being latelysuppli'd with one; but there wasanother printer in town, lately setup, one Keimer, who, perhaps,might employ me; if not, I should bewelcome to lodge at his house, andhe would give me a little work todo now and then till fuller businessshould offer.

The old gentleman said he would go

with me to the new printer; andwhen we found him, "Neighbour,"says Bradford, "I have brought tosee you a young man of yourbusiness; perhaps you may wantsuch a one." He ask'd me a fewquestions, put a composing stick inmy hand to see how I work'd, andthen said he would employ me soon,though he had just then nothing forme to do; and, taking old Bradford,whom he had never seen before, tobe one of the town's people that hada good will for him, enter'd into a

conversation on his presentundertaking and prospects; whileBradford, not discovering that hewas the other printer's father, onKeimer's saying he expected soon toget the greatest part of the businessinto his own hands, drew him on byartful questions, and starting littledoubts, to explain all his views,what interest he reli'd on, and inwhat manner he intended toproceed. I, who stood by and heardall, saw immediately that one ofthem was a crafty old sophister, and

the other a mere novice. Bradfordleft me with Keimer, who wasgreatly surpris'd when I told himwho the old man was.

Keimer's printing-house, I found,consisted of an old shatter'd press,and one small, worn-out font ofEnglish, which he was then usinghimself, composing an Elegy onAquilla Rose, before mentioned, aningenious young man, of excellentcharacter, much respected in thetown, clerk of the Assembly, and apretty poet. Keimer made verses

too, but very indifferently. He couldnot be said to write them, for hismanner was to compose them in thetypes directly out of his head. Sothere being no copy,[27] but onepair of cases, and the Elegy likelyto require all the letter, no onecould help him. I endeavour'd to puthis press (which he had not yet us'd,and of which he understood nothing)into order fit to be work'd with;and, promising to come and print offhis Elegy as soon as he should havegot it ready, I return'd to Bradford's,

who gave me a little job to do forthe present, and there I lodged anddieted. A few days after, Keimersent for me to print off the Elegy.And now he had got another pair ofcases,[28] and a pamphlet to reprint,on which he set me to work.

These two printers I found poorlyqualified for their business.Bradford had not been bred to it,and was very illiterate; and Keimer,tho' something of a scholar, was amere compositor, knowing nothing

of presswork. He had been one ofthe French prophets,[29] and couldact their enthusiastic agitations. Atthis time he did not profess anyparticular religion, but something ofall on occasion; was very ignorantof the world, and had, as Iafterward found, a good deal of theknave in his composition. He didnot like my lodging at Bradford'swhile I work'd with him. He had ahouse, indeed, but without furniture,so he could not lodge me; but he gotme a lodging at Mr. Read's before

mentioned, who was the owner ofhis house; and, my chest and clothesbeing come by this time, I maderather a more respectableappearance in the eyes of MissRead than I had done when she firsthappen'd to see me eating my roll inthe street.

I began now to have someacquaintance among the youngpeople of the town, that were loversof reading, with whom I spent myevenings very pleasantly; andgaining money by my industry and

frugality, I lived very agreeably,forgetting Boston as much as Icould, and not desiring that anythere should know where I resided,except my friend Collins, who wasin my secret, and kept it when Iwrote to him. At length, an incidenthappened that sent me back againmuch sooner than I had intended. Ihad a brother-in-law, RobertHolmes, master of a sloop thattraded between Boston andDelaware. He being at Newcastle,forty miles below Philadelphia,

heard there of me, and wrote me aletter mentioning the concern of myfriends in Boston at my abruptdeparture, assuring me of their goodwill to me, and that everythingwould be accommodated to mymind if I would return, to which heexhorted me very earnestly. I wrotean answer to his letter, thank'd himfor his advice, but stated myreasons for quitting Boston fully andin such a light as to convince him Iwas not so wrong as he hadapprehended.

[25] Kill van Kull, the channelseparating Staten Island fromNew Jersey on the north.

[26] Samuel Richardson, thefather of the English novel,wrote Pamela, ClarissaHarlowe, and the History ofSir Charles Grandison, novelspublished in the form of letters.

[27] Manuscript.

[28] The frames for holdingtype are in two sections, theupper for capitals and the lowerfor small letters.

[29] Protestants of the South ofFrance, who became fanaticalunder the persecutions of LouisXIV, and thought they had thegift of prophecy. They had asmottoes "No Taxes" and"Liberty of Conscience."

IV

FIRST VISIT TO BOSTON

block-SIR WILLIAM KEITH,governor of the province, was thenat Newcastle, and Captain Holmes,happening to be in company withhim when my letter came to hand,spoke to him of me, and show'd himthe letter. The governor read it, andseem'd surpris'd when he was toldmy age. He said I appear'd a youngman of promising parts, andtherefore should be encouraged; theprinters at Philadelphia werewretched ones; and, if I would setup there, he made no doubt I should

succeed; for his part, he wouldprocure me the public business, anddo me every other service in hispower. This my brother-in-lawafterwards told me in Boston, but Iknew as yet nothing of it; when, oneday, Keimer and I being at worktogether near the window, we sawthe governor and another gentleman(which proved to be ColonelFrench, of Newcastle), finelydress'd, come directly across thestreet to our house, and heard themat the door.

Keimer ran down immediately,thinking it a visit to him; but thegovernor inquir'd for me, came up,and with a condescension andpoliteness I had been quite unus'dto, made me many compliments,desired to be acquainted with me,blam'd me kindly for not havingmade myself known to him when Ifirst came to the place, and wouldhave me away with him to thetavern, where he was going withColonel French to taste, as he said,some excellent Madeira. I was not a

little surprised, and Keimer star'dlike a pig poison'd.[30] I went,however, with the governor andColonel French to a tavern, at thecorner of Third-street, and over theMadeira he propos'd my setting upmy business, laid before me theprobabilities of success, and bothhe and Colonel French assur'd me Ishould have their interest andinfluence in procuring the publicbusiness of both governments.[31]

On my doubting whether my fatherwould assist me in it, Sir William

said he would give me a letter tohim, in which he would state theadvantages, and he did not doubt ofprevailing with him. So it wasconcluded I should return to Bostonin the first vessel, with thegovernor's letter recommending meto my father. In the meantime theintention was to be kept a secret,and I went on working with Keimeras usual, the governor sending forme now and then to dine with him, avery great honour I thought it, andconversing with me in the most

affable, familiar, and friendlymanner imaginable.

About the end of April, 1724, alittle vessel offer'd for Boston. Itook leave of Keimer as going tosee my friends. The governor gaveme an ample letter, saying manyflattering things of me to my father,and strongly recommending theproject of my setting up atPhiladelphia as a thing that mustmake my fortune. We struck on ashoal in going down the bay, andsprung a leak; we had a blustering

time at sea, and were oblig'd topump almost continually, at which Itook my turn. We arriv'd safe,however, at Boston in about afortnight. I had been absent sevenmonths, and my friends had heardnothing of me; for my br. Holmeswas not yet return'd, and had notwritten about me. My unexpectedappearance surpris'd the family; allwere, however, very glad to see me,and made me welcome, except mybrother. I went to see him at hisprinting-house. I was better dress'd

than ever while in his service,having a genteel new suit from headto foot, a watch, and my pocketslin'd with near five pounds sterlingin silver. He receiv'd me not veryfrankly, look'd me all over, andturn'd to his work again.

The journeymen were inquisitive

The journeymen were inquisitivewhere I had been, what sort of acountry it was, and how I lik'd it. Iprais'd it much, and the happy life Iled in it, expressing strongly my

intention of returning to it; and, oneof them asking what kind of moneywe had there, I produc'd a handfulof silver, and spread it before them,which was a kind of raree-show[32]

they had not been us'd to, paperbeing the money of Boston.[33]

Then I took an opportunity of lettingthem see my watch; and, lastly (mybrother still grum and sullen), Igave them a piece of eight[34] todrink, and took my leave. This visitof mine offended him extreamly; for,when my mother some time after

spoke to him of a reconciliation,and of her wishes to see us on goodterms together, and that we mightlive for the future as brothers, hesaid I had insulted him in such amanner before his people that hecould never forget or forgive it. Inthis, however, he was mistaken.

My father received the governor'sletter with some apparent surprise,but said little of it to me for somedays, when Capt. Holmes returninghe show'd it to him, asked him if heknew Keith, and what kind of man

he was; adding his opinion that hemust be of small discretion to thinkof setting a boy up in business whowanted yet three years of being atman's estate. Holmes said what hecould in favour of the project, butmy father was clear in theimpropriety of it, and at last, gave aflat denial to it. Then he wrote acivil letter to Sir William, thankinghim for the patronage he had sokindly offered me, but declining toassist me as yet in setting up, Ibeing, in his opinion, too young to

be trusted with the management of abusiness so important, and forwhich the preparation must be soexpensive.

My friend and companion Collins,who was a clerk in the post-office,pleas'd with the account I gave himof my new country, determined to gothither also; and, while I waited formy father's determination, he set outbefore me by land to Rhode Island,leaving his books, which were apretty collection of mathematicksand natural philosophy, to come

with mine and me to New York,where he propos'd to wait for me.

My father, tho' he did not approveSir William's proposition, was yetpleas'd that I had been able toobtain so advantageous a characterfrom a person of such note where Ihad resided, and that I had been soindustrious and careful as to equipmyself so handsomely in so short atime; therefore, seeing no prospectof an accommodation between mybrother and me, he gave his consentto my returning again to

Philadelphia, advis'd me to behaverespectfully to the people there,endeavour to obtain the generalesteem, and avoid lampooning andlibeling, to which he thought I hadtoo much inclination; telling me, thatby steady industry and a prudentparsimony I might save enough bythe time I was one-and-twenty to setme up; and that, if I came near thematter, he would help me out withthe rest. This was all I could obtain,except some small gifts as tokens ofhis and my mother's love, when I

embark'd again for New York, nowwith their approbation and theirblessing.

The sloop putting in at Newport,Rhode Island, I visited my brotherJohn, who had been married andsettled there some years. Hereceived me very affectionately, forhe always lov'd me. A friend of his,one Vernon, having some money dueto him in Pennsylvania, about thirty-five pounds currency, desired Iwould receive it for him, and keepit till I had his directions what to

remit it in. Accordingly, he gave mean order. This afterwardsoccasion'd me a good deal ofuneasiness.

At Newport we took in a number ofpassengers for New York, amongwhich were two young women,companions, and a grave, sensible,matronlike Quaker woman, with herattendants. I had shown an obligingreadiness to do her some littleservices, which impress'd her Isuppose with a degree of good willtoward me; therefore, when she saw

a daily growing familiarity betweenme and the two young women,which they appear'd to encourage,she took me aside, and said, "Youngman, I am concern'd for thee, asthou hast no friend with thee, andseems not to know much of theworld, or of the snares youth isexpos'd to; depend upon it, thoseare very bad women; I can see it inall their actions; and if thee art notupon thy guard, they will draw theeinto some danger; they are strangersto thee, and I advise thee, in a

friendly concern for thy welfare, tohave no acquaintance with them."As I seem'd at first not to think so illof them as she did, she mentionedsome things she had observ'd andheard that had escap'd my notice,but now convinc'd me she was right.I thank'd her for her kind advice,and promis'd to follow it. When wearriv'd at New York, they told mewhere they liv'd, and invited me tocome and see them; but I avoided it,and it was well I did; for the nextday the captain miss'd a silver

spoon and some other things, thathad been taken out of his cabin, and,knowing that these were a couple ofstrumpets, he got a warrant tosearch their lodgings, found thestolen goods, and had the thievespunish'd. So, tho' we had escap'd asunken rock, which we scrap'd uponin the passage, I thought this escapeof rather more importance to me.

At New York I found my friendCollins, who had arriv'd there sometime before me. We had beenintimate from children, and had read

the same books together; but he hadthe advantage of more time forreading and studying, and awonderful genius for mathematicallearning, in which he far outstriptme. While I liv'd in Boston, most ofmy hours of leisure for conversationwere spent with him, and hecontinu'd a sober as well as anindustrious lad; was much respectedfor his learning by several of theclergy and other gentlemen, andseemed to promise making a goodfigure in life. But, during my

absence, he had acquir'd a habit ofsotting with brandy; and I found byhis own account, and what I heardfrom others, that he had been drunkevery day since his arrival at NewYork, and behav'd very oddly. Hehad gam'd, too, and lost his money,so that I was oblig'd to dischargehis lodgings, and defray hisexpenses to and at Philadelphia,which prov'd extremelyinconvenient to me.

The then governor of New York,Burnet (son of Bishop Burnet),

hearing from the captain that ayoung man, one of his passengers,had a great many books, desir'd hewould bring me to see him. I waitedupon him accordingly, and shouldhave taken Collins with me but thathe was not sober. The gov'r. treatedme with great civility, show'd mehis library, which was a very largeone, and we had a good deal ofconversation about books andauthors. This was the secondgovernor who had done me thehonour to take notice of me; which,

to a poor boy like me, was verypleasing.

We proceeded to Philadelphia. Ireceived on the way Vernon'smoney, without which we couldhardly have finish'd our journey.Collins wished to be employ'd insome counting-house; but, whetherthey discover'd his dramming by hisbreath, or by his behaviour, tho' hehad some recommendations, he metwith no success in any application,and continu'd lodging and boardingat the same house with me, and at

my expense. Knowing I had thatmoney of Vernon's, he wascontinually borrowing of me, stillpromising repayment as soon as heshould be in business. At length hehad got so much of it that I wasdistress'd to think what I should doin case of being call'd on to remit it.

His drinking continu'd, about whichwe sometimes quarrel'd; for, when alittle intoxicated, he was veryfractious. Once, in a boat on theDelaware with some other youngmen, he refused to row in his turn.

"I will be row'd home," says he."We will not row you," says I. "Youmust, or stay all night on the water,"says he, "just as you please." Theothers said, "Let us row; whatsignifies it?" But, my mind beingsoured with his other conduct, Icontinu'd to refuse. So he swore hewould make me row, or throw meoverboard; and coming along,stepping on the thwarts, toward me,when he came up and struck at me, Iclapped my hand under his crutch,and, rising, pitched him head-

foremost into the river. I knew hewas a good swimmer, and so wasunder little concern about him; butbefore he could get round to layhold of the boat, we had with a fewstrokes pull'd her out of his reach;and ever when he drew near theboat, we ask'd if he would row,striking a few strokes to slide heraway from him. He was ready todie with vexation, and obstinatelywould not promise to row.However, seeing him at lastbeginning to tire, we lifted him in

and brought him home dripping wetin the evening. We hardly exchang'da civil word afterwards, and a WestIndia captain, who had acommission to procure a tutor forthe sons of a gentleman atBarbados, happening to meet withhim, agreed to carry him thither. Heleft me then, promising to remit methe first money he should receive inorder to discharge the debt; but Inever heard of him after.

The breaking into this money ofVernon's was one of the first great

errata of my life; and this affairshow'd that my father was not muchout in his judgment when hesuppos'd me too young to managebusiness of importance. But SirWilliam, on reading his letter, saidhe was too prudent. There was greatdifference in persons; anddiscretion did not alwaysaccompany years, nor was youthalways without it. "And since hewill not set you up," says he, "I willdo it myself. Give me an inventoryof the things necessary to be had

from England, and I will send forthem. You shall repay me when youare able; I am resolv'd to have agood printer here, and I am sure youmust succeed." This was spokenwith such an appearance ofcordiality, that I had not the leastdoubt of his meaning what he said. Ihad hitherto kept the proposition ofmy setting up, a secret inPhiladelphia, and I still kept it. Hadit been known that I depended onthe governor, probably some friend,that knew him better, would have

advis'd me not to rely on him, as Iafterwards heard it as his knowncharacter to be liberal of promiseswhich he never meant to keep. Yet,unsolicited as he was by me, howcould I think his generous offersinsincere? I believ'd him one of thebest men in the world.

I presented him an inventory of alittle print'-house, amounting by mycomputation to about one hundredpounds sterling. He lik'd it, butask'd me if my being on the spot inEngland to chuse the types, and see

that everything was good of thekind, might not be of someadvantage. "Then," says he, "whenthere, you may make acquaintances,and establish correspondences inthe bookselling and stationery way."I agreed that this might beadvantageous. "Then," says he, "getyourself ready to go with Annis;"which was the annual ship, and theonly one at that time usually passingbetween London and Philadelphia.But it would be some months beforeAnnis sail'd, so I continued working

with Keimer, fretting about themoney Collins had got from me, andin daily apprehensions of beingcall'd upon by Vernon, which,however, did not happen for someyears after.

I believe I have omitted mentioningthat, in my first voyage from Boston,being becalm'd off Block Island,our people set about catching cod,and hauled up a great many.Hitherto I had stuck to my resolutionof not eating animal food, and onthis occasion I consider'd, with my

master Tryon, the taking every fishas a kind of unprovoked murder,since none of them had, or evercould do us any injury that mightjustify the slaughter. All this seemedvery reasonable. But I had formerlybeen a great lover of fish, and,when this came hot out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably well. Ibalanc'd some time betweenprinciple and inclination, till Irecollected that, when the fish wereopened, I saw smaller fish taken outof their stomachs; then thought I, "If

you eat one another, I don't see whywe mayn't eat you." So I din'd uponcod very heartily, and continued toeat with other people, returning onlynow and then occasionally to avegetable diet. So convenient athing is it to be a reasonablecreature, since it enables one tofind or make a reason for everythingone has a mind to do.

[30] Temple Franklinconsidered this specific figurevulgar and changed it to "staredwith astonishment."

[31] Pennsylvania andDelaware.

[32] A peep-show in a box.

[33] There were no mints in thecolonies, so the metal moneywas of foreign coinage and notnearly so common as papermoney, which was printed inlarge quantities in America,even in small denominations.

[34] Spanish dollar aboutequivalent to our dollar.

V

EARLY FRIENDS INPHILADELPHIA

block-K EIMER and I liv'd on apretty good familiar footing, andagreed tolerably well, for hesuspected nothing of my setting up.He retained a great deal of his oldenthusiasms and lov'dargumentation. We therefore hadmany disputations. I used to workhim so with my Socratic method,

and had trepann'd him so often byquestions apparently so distant fromany point we had in hand, and yet bydegrees led to the point, and broughthim into difficulties andcontradictions, that at last he grewridiculously cautious, and wouldhardly answer me the most commonquestion, without asking first,"What do you intend to infer fromthat?" However, it gave him so highan opinion of my abilities in theconfuting way, that he seriouslyproposed my being his colleague in

a project he had of setting up a newsect. He was to preach thedoctrines, and I was to confound allopponents. When he came toexplain with me upon the doctrines,I found several conundrums which Iobjected to, unless I might have myway a little too, and introduce someof mine.

Keimer wore his beard at fulllength, because somewhere in theMosaic law it is said, "Thou shaltnot mar the corners of thy beard."He likewise kept the Seventh day,

Sabbath; and these two points wereessentials with him. I dislik'd both;but agreed to admit them uponcondition of his adopting thedoctrine of using no animal food. "Idoubt," said he, "my constitutionwill not bear that." I assur'd him itwould, and that he would be thebetter for it. He was usually a greatglutton, and I promised myself somediversion in half starving him. Heagreed to try the practice, if I wouldkeep him company. I did so, and weheld it for three months. We had our

victuals dress'd, and brought to usregularly by a woman in theneighborhood, who had from me alist of forty dishes, to be prepar'dfor us at different times, in allwhich there was neither fish, flesh,nor fowl, and the whim suited methe better at this time from thecheapness of it, not costing usabove eighteenpence sterling eachper week. I have since kept severalLents most strictly, leaving thecommon diet for that, and that forthe common, abruptly, without the

least inconvenience, so that I thinkthere is little in the advice ofmaking those changes by easygradations. I went on pleasantly, butpoor Keimer suffered grievously,tired of the project, long'd for theflesh-pots of Egypt, and order'd aroast pig. He invited me and twowomen friends to dine with him;but, it being brought too soon upontable, he could not resist thetemptation, and ate the whole beforewe came.

I had made some courtship during

this time to Miss Read. I had a greatrespect and affection for her, andhad some reason to believe she hadthe same for me; but, as I was aboutto take a long voyage, and we wereboth very young, only a little aboveeighteen, it was thought mostprudent by her mother to preventour going too far at present, as amarriage, if it was to take place,would be more convenient after myreturn, when I should be, as Iexpected, set up in my business.Perhaps, too, she thought my

expectations not so well founded asI imagined them to be.

My chief acquaintances at this timewere Charles Osborne, JosephWatson, and James Ralph, all loversof reading. The two first wereclerks to an eminent scrivener orconveyancer in the town, CharlesBrockden; the other was clerk to amerchant. Watson was a pious,sensible young man, of greatintegrity; the others rather more laxin their principles of religion,particularly Ralph, who, as well as

Collins, had been unsettled by me,for which they both made me suffer.Osborne was sensible, candid,frank; sincere and affectionate to hisfriends; but, in literary matters, toofond of criticizing. Ralph wasingenious, genteel in his manners,and extremely eloquent; I think Inever knew a prettier talker. Both ofthem were great admirers of poetry,and began to try their hands in littlepieces. Many pleasant walks wefour had together on Sundays intothe woods, near Schuylkill, where

we read to one another, andconferr'd on what we read.

Many pleasant walks we four hadtogether

Ralph was inclin'd to pursue thestudy of poetry, not doubting but hemight become eminent in it, andmake his fortune by it, alleging thatthe best poets must, when they firstbegan to write, make as many faultsas he did. Osborne dissuaded him,assur'd him he had no genius forpoetry, and advis'd him to think of

nothing beyond the business he wasbred to; that, in the mercantile way,tho' he had no stock, he might, byhis diligence and punctuality,recommend himself to employmentas a factor, and in time acquirewherewith to trade on his ownaccount. I approv'd the amusingone's self with poetry now and then,so far as to improve one's language,but no farther.

On this it was propos'd that weshould each of us, at our nextmeeting, produce a piece of our

own composing, in order toimprove by our mutualobservations, criticisms, andcorrections. As language andexpression were what we had inview, we excluded allconsiderations of invention byagreeing that the task should be aversion of the eighteenth Psalm,which describes the descent of aDeity. When the time of our meetingdrew nigh, Ralph called on me first,and let me know his piece wasready. I told him I had been busy,

and, having little inclination, haddone nothing. He then show'd mehis piece for my opinion, and Imuch approv'd it, as it appear'd tome to have great merit. "Now," sayshe, "Osborne never will allow theleast merit in anything of mine, butmakes 1000 criticisms out of mereenvy. He is not so jealous of you; Iwish, therefore, you would take thispiece, and produce it as yours; Iwill pretend not to have had time,and so produce nothing. We shallthen see what he will say to it." It

was agreed, and I immediatelytranscrib'd it, that it might appear inmy own hand.

We met; Watson's performance wasread; there were some beauties in it,but many defects. Osborne's wasread; it was much better; Ralph didit justice; remarked some faults, butapplauded the beauties. He himselfhad nothing to produce. I wasbackward; seemed desirous ofbeing excused; had not hadsufficient time to correct, etc.; butno excuse could be admitted;

produce I must. It was read andrepeated; Watson and Osborne gaveup the contest, and join'd inapplauding it. Ralph only madesome criticisms, and propos'd someamendments; but I defended my text.Osborne was against Ralph, andtold him he was no better a criticthan poet, so he dropt the argument.As they two went home together,Osborne expressed himself stillmore strongly in favor of what hethought my production; havingrestrain'd himself before, as he said,

lest I should think it flattery. "Butwho would have imagin'd," said he,"that Franklin had been capable ofsuch a performance; such painting,such force, such fire! He has evenimprov'd the original. In hiscommon conversation he seems tohave no choice of words; hehesitates and blunders; and yet,good God! how he writes!" Whenwe next met, Ralph discovered thetrick we had plaid him, andOsborne was a little laughed at.

This transaction fixed Ralph in his

resolution of becoming a poet. I didall I could to dissuade him from it,but he continued scribbling versestill Pope cured him.[35] He became,however, a pretty good prosewriter. More of him hereafter. But,as I may not have occasion again tomention the other two, I shall justremark here, that Watson died in myarms a few years after, muchlamented, being the best of our set.Osborne went to the West Indies,where he became an eminent lawyerand made money, but died young.

He and I had made a seriousagreement, that the one whohappen'd first to die should, ifpossible, make a friendly visit tothe other, and acquaint him how hefound things in that separate state.But he never fulfill'd his promise.

[35] "In one of the later editionsof the Dunciad occur thefollowing lines:

'Silence, ye wolves! whileRalph to Cynthia howls,

And makes night hideous—answer him, ye owls.'

To this the poet adds thefollowing note:

'James Ralph, a name insertedafter the first editions, notknown till he writ a swearing-piece called Sawney, veryabusive of Dr. Swift, Mr. Gay,and myself.'"

VI

FIRST VISIT TO LONDON

block-THE governor, seeming tolike my company, had me frequentlyto his house, and his setting me upwas always mention'd as a fixedthing. I was to take with me lettersrecommendatory to a number of hisfriends, besides the letter of creditto furnish me with the necessarymoney for purchasing the press andtypes, paper, etc. For these letters Iwas appointed to call at differenttimes, when they were to be ready;but a future time was still named.Thus he went on till the ship, whose

departure too had been severaltimes postponed, was on the pointof sailing. Then, when I call'd totake my leave and receive theletters, his secretary, Dr. Bard,came out to me and said thegovernor was extremely busy inwriting, but would be down atNewcastle, before the ship, andthere the letters would be deliveredto me.

Ralph, though married, and havingone child, had determined toaccompany me in this voyage. It

was thought he intended to establisha correspondence, and obtain goodsto sell on commission; but I foundafterwards, that, thro' somediscontent with his wife's relations,he purposed to leave her on theirhands, and never return again.Having taken leave of my friends,and interchang'd some promiseswith Miss Read, I left Philadelphiain the ship, which anchor'd atNewcastle. The governor was there;but when I went to his lodging, thesecretary came to me from him with

the civillest message in the world,that he could not then see me, beingengaged in business of the utmostimportance, but should send theletters to me on board, wished meheartily a good voyage and a speedyreturn, etc. I returned on board alittle puzzled, but still not doubting.

Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famouslawyer of Philadelphia, had takenpassage in the same ship for himselfand son, and with Mr. Denham, aQuaker merchant, and Messrs.Onion and Russel, masters of an

iron work in Maryland, had engagedthe great cabin; so that Ralph and Iwere forced to take up with a berthin the steerage, and none on boardknowing us, were considered asordinary persons. But Mr. Hamiltonand his son (it was James, sincegovernor) return'd from Newcastleto Philadelphia, the father beingrecall'd by a great fee to plead for aseized ship; and, just before wesail'd, Colonel French coming onboard, and showing me greatrespect, I was more taken notice of,

and, with my friend Ralph, invitedby the other gentlemen to come intothe cabin, there being now room.Accordingly, we remov'd thither.

Understanding that Colonel Frenchhad brought on board the governor'sdespatches, I ask'd the captain forthose letters that were to be undermy care. He said all were put intothe bag together and he could notthen come at them; but, before welanded in England, I should have anopportunity of picking them out; so Iwas satisfied for the present, and

we proceeded on our voyage. Wehad a sociable company in thecabin, and lived uncommonly well,having the addition of all Mr.Hamilton's stores, who had laid inplentifully. In this passage Mr.Denham contracted a friendship forme that continued during his life.The voyage was otherwise not apleasant one, as we had a great dealof bad weather.

When we came into the Channel, thecaptain kept his word with me, andgave me an opportunity of

examining the bag for the governor'sletters. I found none upon which myname was put as under my care. Ipicked out six or seven, that, by thehandwriting, I thought might be thepromised letters, especially as oneof them was directed to Basket, theking's printer, and another to somestationer. We arriv'd in London the24th of December, 1724. I waitedupon the stationer, who came first inmy way, delivering the letter asfrom Governor Keith. "I don't knowsuch a person," says he; but,

opening the letter, "O! this is fromRiddlesden. I have lately found himto be a compleat rascal, and I willhave nothing to do with him, norreceive any letters from him." So,putting the letter into my hand, heturn'd on his heel and left me toserve some customer. I wassurprised to find these were not thegovernor's letters; and, afterrecollecting and comparingcircumstances, I began to doubt hissincerity. I found my friend Denham,and opened the whole affair to him.

He let me into Keith's character;told me there was not the leastprobability that he had written anyletters for me; that no one, whoknew him, had the smallestdependence on him; and he laught atthe notion of the governor's givingme a letter of credit, having, as hesaid, no credit to give. On myexpressing some concern aboutwhat I should do, he advised me toendeavour getting some employmentin the way of my business. "Amongthe printers here," said he, "you will

improve yourself, and when youreturn to America, you will set up togreater advantage."

So, putting the letter into my hand

We both of us happen'd to know, aswell as the stationer, thatRiddlesden, the attorney, was a veryknave. He had half ruin'd MissRead's father by persuading him tobe bound for him. By this letter itappear'd there was a secret schemeon foot to the prejudice of Hamilton(suppos'd to be then coming over

with us); and that Keith wasconcerned in it with Riddlesden.Denham, who was a friend ofHamilton's, thought he ought to beacquainted with it; so, when hearriv'd in England, which was soonafter, partly from resentment and ill-will to Keith and Riddlesden, andpartly from good-will to him, Iwaited on him, and gave him theletter. He thank'd me cordially, theinformation being of importance tohim; and from that time he becamemy friend, greatly to my advantage

afterwards on many occasions.

But what shall we think of agovernor's playing such pitifultricks, and imposing so grossly on apoor ignorant boy! It was a habit hehad acquired. He wish'd to pleaseeverybody; and, having little togive, he gave expectations. He wasotherwise an ingenious, sensibleman, a pretty good writer, and agood governor for the people, tho'not for his constituents, theproprietaries, whose instructions hesometimes disregarded. Several of

our best laws were of his planningand passed during hisadministration.

Ralph and I were inseparablecompanions. We took lodgingstogether in Little Britain[36] at threeshillings and sixpence a week—asmuch as we could then afford. Hefound some relations, but they werepoor, and unable to assist him. Henow let me know his intentions ofremaining in London, and that henever meant to return to

Philadelphia. He had brought nomoney with him, the whole he couldmuster having been expended inpaying his passage. I had fifteenpistoles;[37] so he borrowedoccasionally of me to subsist, whilehe was looking out for business. Hefirst endeavoured to get into theplay-house, believing himselfqualify'd for an actor; but Wilkes,[38] to whom he apply'd, advis'dhim candidly not to think of thatemployment, as it was impossiblehe should succeed in it. Then he

propos'd to Roberts, a publisher inPaternoster Row,[39] to write forhim a weekly paper like theSpectator, on certain conditions,which Roberts did not approve.Then he endeavoured to getemployment as a hackney writer, tocopy for the stationers and lawyersabout the Temple,[40] but could findno vacancy.

I immediately got into work atPalmer's, then a famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close, and

here I continu'd near a year. I waspretty diligent, but spent with Ralpha good deal of my earnings in goingto plays and other places ofamusement. We had togetherconsumed all my pistoles, and nowjust rubbed on from hand to mouth.He seem'd quite to forget his wifeand child, and I, by degrees, myengagements with Miss Read, towhom I never wrote more than oneletter, and that was to let her know Iwas not likely soon to return. Thiswas another of the great errata of

my life, which I should wish tocorrect if I were to live it overagain. In fact, by our expenses, Iwas constantly kept unable to paymy passage.

At Palmer's I was employed incomposing for the second edition ofWollaston's "Religion of Nature."Some of his reasonings notappearing to me well founded, Iwrote a little metaphysical piece inwhich I made remarks on them. Itwas entitled "A Dissertation onLiberty and Necessity, Pleasure and

Pain." I inscribed it to my friendRalph; I printed a small number. Itoccasion'd my being moreconsider'd by Mr. Palmer as ayoung man of some ingenuity, tho' heseriously expostulated with meupon the principles of my pamphlet,which to him appear'd abominable.My printing this pamphlet wasanother erratum.

While I lodg'd in Little Britain, Imade an acquaintance with oneWilcox, a bookseller, whose shopwas at the next door. He had an

immense collection of second-handbooks. Circulating libraries werenot then in use; but we agreed that,on certain reasonable terms, which Ihave now forgotten, I might take,read, and return any of his books.This I esteem'd a great advantage,and I made as much use of it as Icould.

My pamphlet by some means fallinginto the hands of one Lyons, asurgeon, author of a book entitled"The Infallibility of HumanJudgment," it occasioned an

acquaintance between us. He tookgreat notice of me, called on meoften to converse on those subjects,carried me to the Horns, a palealehouse in—— Lane, Cheapside,and introduced me to Dr.Mandeville, author of the "Fable ofthe Bees," who had a club there, ofwhich he was the soul, being a mostfacetious, entertaining companion.Lyons, too, introduced me to Dr.Pemberton, at Batson's Coffee-house, who promis'd to give me anopportunity, sometime or other, of

seeing Sir Isaac Newton, of which Iwas extreamly desirous; but thisnever happened.

I had brought over a few curiosities,among which the principal was apurse made of the asbestos, whichpurifies by fire. Sir Hans Sloaneheard of it, came to see me, andinvited me to his house inBloomsbury Square, where heshow'd me all his curiosities, andpersuaded me to let him add that tothe number, for which he paid mehandsomely.

In our house there lodg'd a youngwoman, a milliner, who, I think, hada shop in the Cloisters. She hadbeen genteelly bred, was sensibleand lively, and of most pleasingconversation. Ralph read plays toher in the evenings, they grewintimate, she took another lodging,and he followed her. They liv'dtogether some time; but, he beingstill out of business, and her incomenot sufficient to maintain them withher child, he took a resolution ofgoing from London, to try for a

country school, which he thoughthimself well qualified to undertake,as he wrote an excellent hand, andwas a master of arithmetic andaccounts. This, however, he deemeda business below him, and confidentof future better fortune, when heshould be unwilling to have itknown that he once was so meanlyemployed, he changed his name, anddid me the honour to assume mine;for I soon after had a letter fromhim, acquainting me that he wassettled in a small village (in

Berkshire, I think it was, where hetaught reading and writing to ten ora dozen boys, at sixpence each perweek), recommending Mrs. T——to my care, and desiring me to writeto him, directing for Mr. Franklin,schoolmaster, at such a place.

He continued to write frequently,sending me large specimens of anepic poem which he was thencomposing, and desiring myremarks and corrections. These Igave him from time to time, butendeavour'd rather to discourage his

proceeding. One of Young'sSatires[41] was then just published.I copy'd and sent him a great part ofit, which set in a strong light thefolly of pursuing the Muses with anyhope of advancement by them. Allwas in vain; sheets of the poemcontinued to come by every post. Inthe meantime, Mrs. T——, havingon his account lost her friends andbusiness, was often in distresses,and us'd to send for me and borrowwhat I could spare to help her out ofthem. I grew fond of her company,

and, being at that time under noreligious restraint, and presumingupon my importance to her, Iattempted familiarities (anothererratum) which she repuls'd with aproper resentment, and acquaintedhim with my behaviour. This made abreach between us; and, when hereturned again to London, he let meknow he thought I had cancell'd allthe obligations he had been under tome. So I found I was never toexpect his repaying me what I lentto him or advanc'd for him. This,

however, was not then of muchconsequence, as he was totallyunable; and in the loss of hisfriendship I found myself relievedfrom a burthen. I now began to thinkof getting a little money beforehand,and, expecting better work, I leftPalmer's to work at Watts's, nearLincoln's Inn Fields, a still greaterprinting-house.[42] Here I continuedall the rest of my stay in London.

At my first admission into thisprinting-house I took to working at

press, imagining I felt a want of thebodily exercise I had been us'd to inAmerica, where presswork is mix'dwith composing. I drank only water;the other workmen, near fifty innumber, were great guzzlers of beer.On occasion, I carried up and downstairs a large form of types in eachhand, when others carried but one inboth hands. They wondered to see,from this and several instances, thatthe Water-American, as they calledme, was stronger than themselves,who drank strong beer! We had an

alehouse boy who attended alwaysin the house to supply the workmen.My companion at the press drankevery day a pint before breakfast, apint at breakfast with his bread andcheese, a pint between breakfastand dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint inthe afternoon about six o'clock, andanother when he had done his day'swork. I thought it a detestablecustom; but it was necessary, hesuppos'd, to drink strong beer, thathe might be strong to labour. Iendeavoured to convince him that

the bodily strength afforded by beercould only be in proportion to thegrain or flour of the barleydissolved in the water of which itwas made; that there was more flourin a pennyworth of bread; andtherefore, if he would eat that with apint of water, it would give himmore strength than a quart of beer.He drank on, however, and had fouror five shillings to pay out of hiswages every Saturday night for thatmuddling liquor; an expense I wasfree from. And thus these poor

devils keep themselves alwaysunder.

I took to working at press

"I took to working at press"

Watts, after some weeks, desiring tohave me in the composing-room,[43]

I left the pressmen; a new bien venuor sum for drink, being fiveshillings, was demanded of me bythe compositors. I thought it animposition, as I had paid below; themaster thought so too, and forbademy paying it. I stood out two orthree weeks, was accordinglyconsidered as an excommunicate,

and had so many little pieces ofprivate mischief done me, by mixingmy sorts, transposing my pages,breaking my matter, etc., etc., if Iwere ever so little out of the room,and all ascribed to the chappelghost, which they said ever hauntedthose not regularly admitted, that,notwithstanding the master'sprotection, I found myself oblig'd tocomply and pay the money,convinc'd of the folly of being on illterms with those one is to live withcontinually.

I was now on a fair footing withthem, and soon acquir'dconsiderable influence. I propos'dsome reasonable alterations in theirchappel laws,[44] and carried themagainst all opposition. From myexample, a great part of them lefttheir muddling breakfast of beer,and bread, and cheese, finding theycould with me be supply'd from aneighbouring house with a largeporringer of hot water-gruel,sprinkled with pepper, crumb'd withbread, and a bit of butter in it, for

the price of a pint of beer, viz.,three half-pence. This was a morecomfortable as well as cheaperbreakfast, and keep their headsclearer. Those who continuedsotting with beer all day, wereoften, by not paying, out of credit atthe alehouse, and us'd to makeinterest with me to get beer; theirlight, as they phrased it, being out.I watch'd the pay-table on Saturdaynight, and collected what I stoodengag'd for them, having to paysometimes near thirty shillings a

week on their accounts. This, andmy being esteem'd a pretty goodriggite, that is, a jocular verbalsatirist, supported my consequencein the society. My constantattendance (I never making a St.Monday)[45] recommended me tothe master; and my uncommonquickness at composing occasionedmy being put upon all work ofdispatch, which was generallybetter paid. So I went on now veryagreeably.

My lodging in Little Britain beingtoo remote, I found another in Duke-street, opposite to the RomishChapel. It was two pair of stairsbackwards, at an Italian warehouse.A widow lady kept the house; shehad a daughter, and a maid servant,and a journeyman who attended thewarehouse, but lodg'd abroad. Aftersending to inquire my character atthe house where I last lodg'd sheagreed to take me in at the samerate, 3s. 6d. per week; cheaper, asshe said, from the protection she

expected in having a man lodge inthe house. She was a widow, anelderly woman; had been bred aProtestant, being a clergyman'sdaughter, but was converted to theCatholic religion by her husband,whose memory she much revered;had lived much among people ofdistinction, and knew a thousandanecdotes of them as far back as thetimes of Charles the Second. Shewas lame in her knees with the gout,and, therefore, seldom stirred out ofher room, so sometimes wanted

company; and hers was so highlyamusing to me, that I was sure tospend an evening with herwhenever she desired it. Our supperwas only half an anchovy each, on avery little strip of bread and butter,and half a pint of ale between us;but the entertainment was in herconversation. My always keepinggood hours, and giving little troublein the family, made her unwilling topart with me, so that, when I talk'dof a lodging I had heard of, nearermy business, for two shillings a

week, which, intent as I now was onsaving money, made somedifference, she bid me not think ofit, for she would abate me twoshillings a week for the future; so Iremained with her at one shillingand sixpence as long as I staid inLondon.

In a garret of her house there lived amaiden lady of seventy, in the mostretired manner, of whom mylandlady gave me this account: thatshe was a Roman Catholic, hadbeen sent abroad when young, and

lodg'd in a nunnery with an intent ofbecoming a nun; but, the country notagreeing with her, she returned toEngland, where, there being nonunnery, she had vow'd to lead thelife of a nun, as near as might bedone in those circumstances.Accordingly, she had given all herestate to charitable uses, reservingonly twelve pounds a year to liveon, and out of this sum she still gavea great deal in charity, living herselfon water-gruel only, and using nofire but to boil it. She had lived

many years in that garret, beingpermitted to remain there gratis bysuccessive Catholic tenants of thehouse below, as they deemed it ablessing to have her there. A priestvisited her to confess her every day."I have ask'd her," says mylandlady, "how she, as she liv'd,could possibly find so muchemployment for a confessor?" "Oh,"said she, "it is impossible to avoidvain thoughts." I was permittedonce to visit her. She was cheerfuland polite, and convers'd

pleasantly. The room was clean, buthad no other furniture than a matras,a table with a crucifix and book, astool which she gave me to sit on,and a picture over the chimney ofSaint Veronica displaying herhandkerchief, with the miraculousfigure of Christ's bleeding face onit,[46] which she explained to mewith great seriousness. She look'dpale, but was never sick; and I giveit as another instance on how smallan income, life and health may besupported.

At Watts's printing-house Icontracted an acquaintance with aningenious young man, one Wygate,who, having wealthy relations, hadbeen better educated than mostprinters; was a tolerable Latinist,spoke French, and lov'd reading. Itaught him and a friend of his toswim at twice going into the river,and they soon became goodswimmers. They introduc'd me tosome gentlemen from the country,who went to Chelsea by water tosee the College and Don Saltero's

curiosities.[47] In our return, at therequest of the company, whosecuriosity Wygate had excited, Istripped and leaped into the river,and swam from near Chelsea toBlackfriar's,[48] performing on theway many feats of activity, bothupon and under water, that surpris'dand pleas'd those to whom theywere novelties.

I had from a child been everdelighted with this exercise, hadstudied and practis'd all Thevenot's

motions and positions, added someof my own, aiming at the gracefuland easy as well as the useful. Allthese I took this occasion ofexhibiting to the company, and wasmuch flatter'd by their admiration;and Wygate, who was desirous ofbecoming a master, grew more andmore attach'd to me on that account,as well as from the similarity of ourstudies. He at length proposed to metraveling all over Europe together,supporting ourselves everywhere byworking at our business. I was once

inclined to it; but, mentioning it tomy good friend Mr. Denham, withwhom I often spent an hour when Ihad leisure, he dissuaded me fromit, advising me to think only ofreturning to Pennsylvania, which hewas now about to do.

I must record one trait of this goodman's character. He had formerlybeen in business at Bristol, butfailed in debt to a number ofpeople, compounded and went toAmerica. There, by a closeapplication to business as a

merchant, he acquired a plentifulfortune in a few years. Returning toEngland in the ship with me, heinvited his old creditors to anentertainment, at which he thank'dthem for the easy composition theyhad favoured him with, and, whenthey expected nothing but the treat,every man at the first remove foundunder his plate an order on a bankerfor the full amount of the unpaidremainder with interest.

He now told me he was about toreturn to Philadelphia, and should

carry over a great quantity of goodsin order to open a store there. Hepropos'd to take me over as hisclerk, to keep his books, in whichhe would instruct me, copy hisletters, and attend the store. Headded, that, as soon as I should beacquainted with mercantilebusiness, he would promote me bysending me with a cargo of flourand bread, etc., to the West Indies,and procure me commissions fromothers which would be profitable;and, if I manag'd well, would

establish me handsomely. The thingpleas'd me; for I was grown tired ofLondon, remembered with pleasurethe happy months I had spent inPennsylvania, and wish'd again tosee it; therefore I immediatelyagreed on the terms of fifty pounds ayear,[49] Pennsylvania money; less,indeed, than my present gettings as acompositor, but affording a betterprospect.

I now took leave of printing, as Ithought, forever, and was daily

employed in my new business,going about with Mr. Denhamamong the tradesmen to purchasevarious articles, and seeing thempack'd up, doing errands, callingupon workmen to dispatch, etc.;and, when all was on board, I had afew days' leisure. On one of thesedays, I was, to my surprise, sent forby a great man I knew only by name,a Sir William Wyndham, and Iwaited upon him. He had heard bysome means or other of myswimming from Chelsea to

Blackfriars, and of my teachingWygate and another young man toswim in a few hours. He had twosons, about to set out on theirtravels; he wish'd to have them firsttaught swimming, and proposed togratify me handsomely if I wouldteach them. They were not yet cometo town, and my stay was uncertain,so I could not undertake it; but, fromthis incident, I thought it likely that,if I were to remain in England andopen a swimming-school, I mightget a good deal of money; and it

struck me so strongly, that, had theoverture been sooner made me,probably I should not so soon havereturned to America. After manyyears, you and I had something ofmore importance to do with one ofthese sons of Sir William Wyndham,become Earl of Egremont, which Ishall mention in its place.

Thus I spent about eighteen monthsin London; most part of the time Iwork'd hard at my business, andspent but little upon myself exceptin seeing plays and in books. My

friend Ralph had kept me poor; heowed me about twenty-sevenpounds, which I was now neverlikely to receive; a great sum out ofmy small earnings! I lov'd him,notwithstanding, for he had manyamiable qualities. I had by nomeans improv'd my fortune; but Ihad picked up some very ingeniousacquaintance, whose conversationwas of great advantage to me; and Ihad read considerably.

[36] One of the oldest parts ofLondon, north of St. Paul's

Cathedral, called "LittleBritain" because the Dukes ofBrittany used to live there. Seethe essay entitled "LittleBritain" in Washington Irving'sSketch Book.

[37] A gold coin worth aboutfour dollars in our money.

[38] A popular comedian,manager of Drury LaneTheater.

[39] Street north of St. Paul's,occupied by publishing houses.

[40] Law schools and lawyers'

residences situated southwestof St. Paul's, between FleetStreet and the Thames.

[41] Edward Young (1681-1765), an English poet. See hissatires, Vol. III, Epist. ii, page70.

[42] The printing press at whichFranklin worked is preserved inthe Patent Office atWashington.

[43] Franklin now left the workof operating the printingpresses, which was largely a

matter of manual labor, andbegan setting type, whichrequired more skill andintelligence.

[44] A printing house is called achapel because Caxton, thefirst English printer, did hisprinting in a chapel connectedwith Westminster Abbey.

[45] A holiday taken to prolongthe dissipation of Saturday'swages.

[46] The story is that she metChrist on His way to

crucifixion and offered Him herhandkerchief to wipe the bloodfrom His face, after which thehandkerchief always bore theimage of Christ's bleeding face.

[47] James Salter, a formerservant of Hans Sloane, livedin Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. "Hishouse, a barber-shop, wasknown as 'Don Saltero'sCoffee-House.' The curiositieswere in glass cases andconstituted an amazing andmotley collection—a petrifiedcrab from China, a 'lignifiedhog,' Job's tears, Madagascar

lances, William the Conqueror'sflaming sword, and Henry theEighth's coat of mail."—Smyth.

[48] About three miles.

[49] About $167.

VII

BEGINNING BUSINESS INPHILADELPHIA

block-WE sail'd from Gravesend onthe 23rd of July, 1726. For theincidents of the voyage, I refer youto my Journal, where you will findthem all minutely related. Perhapsthe most important part of thatjournal is the plan[50] to be foundin it, which I formed at sea, forregulating my future conduct in life.It is the more remarkable, as beingformed when I was so young, andyet being pretty faithfully adhered toquite thro' to old age.

We landed in Philadelphia on the11th of October, where I foundsundry alterations. Keith was nolonger governor, being supersededby Major Gordon. I met himwalking the streets as a commoncitizen. He seem'd a little asham'dat seeing me, but pass'd withoutsaying anything. I should have beenas much asham'd at seeing MissRead, had not her friends,despairing with reason of my returnafter the receipt of my letter,persuaded her to marry another, one

Rogers, a potter, which was done inmy absence. With him, however, shewas never happy, and soon partedfrom him, refusing to cohabit withhim or bear his name, it being nowsaid that he had another wife. Hewas a worthless fellow, tho' anexcellent workman, which was thetemptation to her friends. He gotinto debt, ran away in 1727 or1728, went to the West Indies, anddied there. Keimer had got a betterhouse, a shop well supply'd withstationery, plenty of new types, a

number of hands, tho' none good,and seem'd to have a great deal ofbusiness.

Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street, where we open'd our goods;I attended the business diligently,studied accounts, and grew, in alittle time, expert at selling. Welodg'd and boarded together; hecounsell'd me as a father, having asincere regard for me. I respectedand loved him, and we might havegone on together very happy; but, inthe beginning of February, 1726/7,

when I had just pass'd my twenty-first year, we both were taken ill.My distemper was a pleurisy, whichvery nearly carried me off. Isuffered a good deal, gave up thepoint in my own mind, and wasrather disappointed when I foundmyself recovering, regretting, insome degree, that I must now, sometime or other, have all thatdisagreeable work to do over again.I forget what his distemper was; itheld him a long time, and at lengthcarried him off. He left me a small

legacy in a nuncupative will, as atoken of his kindness for me, and heleft me once more to the wideworld; for the store was taken intothe care of his executors, and myemployment under him ended.

Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street

My brother-in-law, Holmes, beingnow at Philadelphia, advised myreturn to my business; and Keimertempted me, with an offer of largewages by the year, to come and take

the management of his printing-house, that he might better attend hisstationer's shop. I had heard a badcharacter of him in London from hiswife and her friends, and was notfond of having any more to do withhim. I tri'd for farther employmentas a merchant's clerk; but, notreadily meeting with any, I clos'dagain with Keimer. I found in hishouse these hands: Hugh Meredith,a Welsh Pennsylvanian, thirty yearsof age, bred to country work;honest, sensible, had a great deal of

solid observation, was something ofa reader, but given to drink. StephenPotts, a young countryman of fullage, bred to the same, of uncommonnatural parts, and great wit andhumor, but a little idle. These hehad agreed with at extream lowwages per week to be rais'd ashilling every three months, as theywould deserve by improving intheir business; and the expectationof these high wages, to come onhereafter, was what he had drawnthem in with. Meredith was to work

at press, Potts at book-binding,which he, by agreement, was toteach them, though he knew neitherone nor t'other. John——, a wildIrishman, brought up to no business,whose service, for four years,Keimer had purchased from thecaptain of a ship; he, too, was to bemade a pressman. George Webb, anOxford scholar, whose time for fouryears he had likewise bought,intending him for a compositor, ofwhom more presently; and DavidHarry, a country boy, whom he had

taken apprentice.

I soon perceiv'd that the intention ofengaging me at wages so muchhigher than he had been us'd to give,was, to have these raw, cheap handsform'd thro' me; and, as soon as Ihad instructed them, then they beingall articled to him, he should beable to do without me. I went on,however, very chearfully, put hisprinting-house in order, which hadbeen in great confusion, and broughthis hands by degrees to mind theirbusiness and to do it better.

It was an odd thing to find anOxford scholar in the situation of abought servant. He was not morethan eighteen years of age, and gaveme this account of himself; that hewas born in Gloucester, educated ata grammar-school there, had beendistinguish'd among the scholars forsome apparent superiority inperforming his part, when theyexhibited plays; belong'd to theWitty Club there, and had writtensome pieces in prose and verse,which were printed in the

Gloucester newspapers; thence hewas sent to Oxford; where hecontinued about a year, but not wellsatisfi'd, wishing of all things to seeLondon, and become a player. Atlength, receiving his quarterlyallowance of fifteen guineas,instead of discharging his debts hewalk'd out of town, hid his gown ina furze bush, and footed it toLondon, where, having no friend toadvise him, he fell into badcompany, soon spent his guineas,found no means of being introduc'd

among the players, grewnecessitous, pawn'd his cloaths, andwanted bread. Walking the streetvery hungry, and not knowing whatto do with himself, a crimp'sbill[51] was put into his hand,offering immediate entertainmentand encouragement to such aswould bind themselves to serve inAmerica. He went directly, sign'dthe indentures, was put into the ship,and came over, never writing a lineto acquaint his friends what wasbecome of him. He was lively,

witty, good-natur'd, and a pleasantcompanion, but idle, thoughtless,and imprudent to the last degree.

John, the Irishman, soon ran away;with the rest I began to live veryagreeably, for they all respected methe more, as they found Keimerincapable of instructing them, andthat from me they learned somethingdaily. We never worked onSaturday, that being Keimer'sSabbath, so I had two days forreading. My acquaintance withingenious people in the town

increased. Keimer himself treatedme with great civility and apparentregard, and nothing now made meuneasy but my debt to Vernon,which I was yet unable to pay, beinghitherto but a poor æconomist. He,however, kindly made no demand ofit.

Our printing-house often wantedsorts, and there was no letter-founder in America; I had seentypes cast at James's in London, butwithout much attention to themanner; however, I now contrived a

mould, made use of the letters wehad as puncheons, struck themattrices in lead, and thus supply'din a pretty tolerable way alldeficiencies. I also engrav'd severalthings on occasion; I made the ink; Iwas warehouseman, and everything,and, in short, quite a fac-totum.

But, however serviceable I mightbe, I found that my services becameevery day of less importance, as theother hands improv'd in thebusiness; and, when Keimer paidmy second quarter's wages, he let

me know that he felt them too heavy,and thought I should make anabatement. He grew by degrees lesscivil, put on more of the master,frequently found fault, was captious,and seem'd ready for anoutbreaking. I went on,nevertheless, with a good deal ofpatience, thinking that hisencumber'd circumstances werepartly the cause. At length a triflesnapt our connections; for, a greatnoise happening near the court-house, I put my head out of the

window to see what was the matter.Keimer, being in the street, look'dup and saw me, call'd out to me in aloud voice and angry tone to mindmy business, adding somereproachful words, that nettled methe more for their publicity, all theneighbours who were looking outon the same occasion beingwitnesses how I was treated. Hecame up immediately into theprinting-house, continu'd thequarrel, high words pass'd on bothsides, he gave me the quarter's

warning we had stipulated,expressing a wish that he had notbeen oblig'd to so long a warning. Itold him his wish was unnecessary,for I would leave him that instant;and so, taking my hat, walk'd out ofdoors, desiring Meredith, whom Isaw below, to take care of somethings I left, and bring them to mylodgings.

Meredith came accordingly in theevening, when we talked my affairover. He had conceiv'd a greatregard for me, and was very

unwilling that I should leave thehouse while he remain'd in it. Hedissuaded me from returning to mynative country, which I began tothink of; he reminded me thatKeimer was in debt for all hepossess'd; that his creditors beganto be uneasy; that he kept his shopmiserably, sold often without profitfor ready money, and often trustedwithout keeping accounts; that hemust therefore fail, which wouldmake a vacancy I might profit of. Iobjected my want of money. He then

let me know that his father had ahigh opinion of me, and, from somediscourse that had pass'd betweenthem, he was sure would advancemoney to set us up, if I would enterinto partnership with him. "Mytime," says he, "will be out withKeimer in the spring; by that timewe may have our press and types infrom London. I am sensible I am noworkman; if you like it, your skill inthe business shall be set against thestock I furnish, and we will sharethe profits equally."

The proposal was agreeable, and Iconsented; his father was in townand approv'd of it; the more as hesaw I had great influence with hisson, had prevailed on him to abstainlong from dram-drinking, and hehop'd might break him of thatwretched habit entirely, when wecame to be so closely connected. Igave an inventory to the father, whocarry'd it to a merchant; the thingswere sent for, the secret was to bekept till they should arrive, and inthe meantime I was to get work, if I

could, at the other printing-house.But I found no vacancy there, and soremained idle a few days, whenKeimer, on a prospect of beingemploy'd to print some paper moneyin New Jersey, which wouldrequire cuts and various types that Ionly could supply, andapprehending Bradford mightengage me and get the jobb fromhim, sent me a very civil message,that old friends should not part for afew words, the effect of suddenpassion, and wishing me to return.

Meredith persuaded me to comply,as it would give more opportunityfor his improvement under my dailyinstructions; so I return'd, and wewent on more smoothly than forsome time before. The New Jerseyjobb was obtained, I contriv'd acopperplate press for it, the firstthat had been seen in the country; Icut several ornaments and checksfor the bills. We went together toBurlington, where I executed thewhole to satisfaction; and hereceived so large a sum for the

work as to be enabled thereby tokeep his head much longer abovewater.

At Burlington I made anacquaintance with many principalpeople of the province. Several ofthem had been appointed by theAssembly a committee to attend thepress, and take care that no morebills were printed than the lawdirected. They were therefore, byturns, constantly with us, andgenerally he who attended, broughtwith him a friend or two for

company. My mind having beenmuch more improv'd by readingthan Keimer's, I suppose it was forthat reason my conversation seem'dto be more valu'd. They had me totheir houses, introduced me to theirfriends, and show'd me muchcivility; while he, tho' the master,was a little neglected. In truth, hewas an odd fish; ignorant ofcommon life, fond of rudelyopposing receiv'd opinions,slovenly to extream dirtiness,enthusiastic in some points of

religion, and a little knavish withal.

We continu'd there near threemonths; and by that time I couldreckon among my acquired friends,Judge Allen, Samuel Bustill, thesecretary of the Province, IsaacPearson, Joseph Cooper, andseveral of the Smiths, members ofAssembly, and Isaac Decow, thesurveyor-general. The latter was ashrewd, sagacious old man, whotold me that he began for himself,when young, by wheeling clay forbrick-makers, learned to write after

he was of age, carri'd the chain forsurveyors, who taught himsurveying, and he had now by hisindustry, acquir'd a good estate; andsays he, "I foresee that you willsoon work this man out of hisbusiness, and make a fortune in it atPhiladelphia." He had not then theleast intimation of my intention toset up there or anywhere. Thesefriends were afterwards of great useto me, as I occasionally was tosome of them. They all continuedtheir regard for me as long as they

lived.

Before I enter upon my publicappearance in business, it may bewell to let you know the then stateof my mind with regard to myprinciples and morals, that you maysee how far those influenc'd thefuture events of my life. My parentshad early given me religiousimpressions, and brought methrough my childhood piously in theDissenting way. But I was scarcefifteen, when, after doubting byturns of several points, as I found

them disputed in the different booksI read, I began to doubt ofRevelation itself. Some booksagainst Deism[52] fell into myhands; they were said to be thesubstance of sermons preached atBoyle's Lectures. It happened thatthey wrought an effect on me quitecontrary to what was intended bythem; for the arguments of theDeists, which were quoted to berefuted, appeared to me muchstronger than the refutations; inshort, I soon became a thorough

Deist. My arguments pervertedsome others, particularly Collinsand Ralph; but, each of them havingafterwards wrong'd me greatlywithout the least compunction, andrecollecting Keith's conducttowards me (who was another free-thinker), and my own towardsVernon and Miss Read, which attimes gave me great trouble, I beganto suspect that this doctrine, tho' itmight be true, was not very useful.My London pamphlet, which had forits motto these lines of Dryden:[53]

"Whatever is, is right.Though purblind man

Sees but a part o' the chain,the nearest link:

His eyes not carrying to theequal beam,

That poises all above;"

and from the attributes of God, hisinfinite wisdom, goodness andpower, concluded that nothing couldpossibly be wrong in the world, andthat vice and virtue were emptydistinctions, no such things existing,

appear'd now not so clever aperformance as I once thought it;and I doubted whether some errorhad not insinuated itself unperceiv'dinto my argument, so as to infect allthat follow'd, as is common inmetaphysical reasonings.

I grew convinc'd that truth,sincerity and integrity in dealingsbetween man and man were of theutmost importance to the felicity oflife; and I form'd writtenresolutions, which still remain inmy journal book, to practice them

ever while I lived. Revelation hadindeed no weight with me, as such;but I entertain'd an opinion that,though certain actions might not bebad because they were forbiddenby it, or good because itcommanded them, yet probablythese actions might be forbiddenbecause they were bad for us, orcommanded because they werebeneficial to us, in their ownnatures, all the circumstances ofthings considered. And thispersuasion, with the kind hand of

Providence, or some guardianangel, or accidental favourablecircumstances and situations, or alltogether, preserved me, thro' thisdangerous time of youth, and thehazardous situations I wassometimes in among strangers,remote from the eye and advice ofmy father, without any willful grossimmorality or injustice, that mighthave been expected from my wantof religion. I say willful, becausethe instances I have mentioned hadsomething of necessity in them,

from my youth, inexperience, andthe knavery of others. I hadtherefore a tolerable character tobegin the world with; I valued itproperly, and determin'd topreserve it.

We had not been long return'd toPhiladelphia before the new typesarriv'd from London. We settledwith Keimer, and left him by hisconsent before he heard of it. Wefound a house to hire near themarket, and took it. To lessen therent, which was then but twenty-

four pounds a year, tho' I have sinceknown it to let for seventy, we tookin Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, andhis family, who were to pay aconsiderable part of it to us, and weto board with them. We had scarceopened our letters and put our pressin order, before George House, anacquaintance of mine, brought acountryman to us, whom he had metin the street inquiring for a printer.All our cash was now expended inthe variety of particulars we hadbeen obliged to procure, and this

countryman's five shillings, beingour first-fruits, and coming soseasonably, gave me more pleasurethan any crown I have since earned;and the gratitude I felt towardHouse has made me often moreready than perhaps I shouldotherwise have been to assist youngbeginners.

There are croakers in every country,always boding its ruin. Such a onethen lived in Philadelphia; a personof note, an elderly man, with a wiselook and a very grave manner of

speaking; his name was SamuelMickle. This gentleman, a strangerto me, stopt one day at my door, andasked me if I was the young manwho had lately opened a newprinting-house. Being answered inthe affirmative, he said he wassorry for me, because it was anexpensive undertaking, and theexpense would be lost; forPhiladelphia was a sinking place,the people already half-bankrupts,or near being so; all appearances tothe contrary, such as new buildings

and the rise of rents, being to hiscertain knowledge fallacious; forthey were, in fact, among the thingsthat would soon ruin us. And hegave me such a detail of misfortunesnow existing, or that were soon toexist, that he left me halfmelancholy. Had I known himbefore I engaged in this business,probably I never should have doneit. This man continued to live in thisdecaying place, and to declaim inthe same strain, refusing for manyyears to buy a house there, because

all was going to destruction; and atlast I had the pleasure of seeing himgive five times as much for one ashe might have bought it for when hefirst began his croaking.

I should have mentioned before,that, in the autumn of the precedingyear, I had form'd most of myingenious acquaintance into a clubof mutual improvement, which wascalled the JUNTO;[54] we met onFriday evenings. The rules that Idrew up required that every

member, in his turn, should produceone or more queries on any point ofMorals, Politics, or NaturalPhilosophy, to be discuss'd by thecompany; and once in three monthsproduce and read an essay of hisown writing, on any subject hepleased. Our debates were to beunder the direction of a president,and to be conducted in the sincerespirit of inquiry after truth, withoutfondness for dispute, or desire ofvictory; and, to prevent warmth, allexpressions of positiveness in

opinions, or direct contradiction,were after some time madecontraband, and prohibited undersmall pecuniary penalties.

The first members were JosephBreintnal, a copyer of deeds for thescriveners, a good-natur'd, friendlymiddle-ag'd man, a great lover ofpoetry, reading all he could meetwith, and writing some that wastolerable; very ingenious in manylittle Nicknackeries, and of sensibleconversation.

Thomas Godfrey, a self-taughtmathematician, great in his way, andafterward inventor of what is nowcalled Hadley's Quadrant. But heknew little out of his way, and wasnot a pleasing companion; as, likemost great mathematicians I havemet with, he expected universalprecision in everything said, or wasforever denying or distinguishingupon trifles, to the disturbance of allconversation. He soon left us.

Nicholas Scull, a surveyor,afterwards surveyor-general, who

lov'd books, and sometimes made afew verses.

William Parsons, bred a shoemaker,but, loving reading, had acquir'd aconsiderable share of mathematics,which he first studied with a viewto astrology, that he afterwardslaught at it. He also becamesurveyor-general.

William Maugridge, a joiner, a mostexquisite mechanic, and a solid,sensible man.

Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, andGeorge Webb I have characteriz'dbefore.

Robert Grace, a young gentleman ofsome fortune, generous, lively, andwitty; a lover of punning and of hisfriends.

And William Coleman, then amerchant's clerk, about my age, whohad the coolest, clearest head, thebest heart, and the exactest moralsof almost any man I ever met with.He became afterwards a merchant

of great note, and one of ourprovincial judges. Our friendshipcontinued without interruption to hisdeath, upwards of forty years; andthe club continued almost as long,and was the best school ofphilosophy, morality, and politicsthat then existed in the province; forour queries, which were read theweek preceding their discussion,put us upon reading with attentionupon the several subjects, that wemight speak more to the purpose;and here, too, we acquired better

habits of conversation, everythingbeing studied in our rules whichmight prevent our disgusting eachother. From hence the longcontinuance of the club, which Ishall have frequent occasion tospeak further of hereafter.

But my giving this account of it hereis to show something of the interestI had, everyone of these exertingthemselves in recommendingbusiness to us. Breintnalparticularly procur'd us from theQuakers the printing forty sheets of

their history, the rest being to bedone by Keimer; and upon this wework'd exceedingly hard, for theprice was low. It was a folio, propatria size, in pica, with longprimer notes.[55] I compos'd of it asheet a day, and Meredith worked itoff at press; it was often eleven atnight, and sometimes later, before Ihad finished my distribution for thenext day's work, for the little jobbssent in by our other friends now andthen put us back. But so determin'd Iwas to continue doing a sheet a day

of the folio, that one night, when,having impos'd[56] my forms, Ithought my day's work over, one ofthem by accident was broken, andtwo pages reduced to pi,[57] Iimmediately distribut'd andcomposed it over again before Iwent to bed; and this industry,visible to our neighbors, began togive us character and credit;particularly, I was told, that mentionbeing made of the new printing-office at the merchants' Every-nightclub, the general opinion was that it

must fail, there being already twoprinters in the place, Keimer andBradford; but Dr. Baird (whom youand I saw many years after at hisnative place, St. Andrew's inScotland) gave a contrary opinion:"For the industry of that Franklin,"says he, "is superior to anything Iever saw of the kind; I see him stillat work when I go home from club,and he is at work again before hisneighbors are out of bed." Thisstruck the rest, and we soon afterhad offers from one of them to

supply us with stationery; but as yetwe did not chuse to engage in shopbusiness.

I mention this industry the moreparticularly and the more freely, tho'it seems to be talking in my ownpraise, that those of my posterity,who shall read it, may know the useof that virtue, when they see itseffects in my favour throughout thisrelation.

George Webb, who had found afemale friend that lent him

wherewith to purchase his time ofKeimer, now came to offer himselfas a journeyman to us. We could notthen employ him; but I foolishly lethim know as a secret that I soonintended to begin a newspaper, andmight then have work for him. Myhopes of success, as I told him,were founded on this, that the thenonly newspaper, printed byBradford, was a paltry thing,wretchedly manag'd, no wayentertaining, and yet was profitableto him; I therefore thought a good

paper would scarcely fail of goodencouragement. I requested Webbnot to mention it; but he told it toKeimer, who immediately, to bebeforehand with me, publishedproposals for printing one himself,on which Webb was to be employ'd.I resented this; and, to counteractthem, as I could not yet begin ourpaper, I wrote several pieces ofentertainment for Bradford's paper,under the title of the BUSY BODY,which Breintnal continu'd somemonths. By this means the attention

of the publick was fixed on thatpaper, and Keimer's proposals,which we burlesqu'd and ridicul'd,were disregarded. He began hispaper, however, and, after carryingit on three quarters of a year, with atmost only ninety subscribers, heoffered it to me for a trifle; and I,having been ready some time to goon with it, took it in hand directly;and it prov'd in a few yearsextremely profitable to me.

I perceive that I am apt to speak inthe singular number, though our

partnership still continu'd; thereason may be that, in fact, thewhole management of the businesslay upon me. Meredith was nocompositor, a poor pressman, andseldom sober. My friends lamentedmy connection with him, but I wasto make the best of it.

I see him still at work when I gohome from club

"I see him still at work when Igo home from club"

Our first papers made a quite

different appearance from anybefore in the province; a better type,and better printed; but some spiritedremarks of my writing, on thedispute then going on betweenGovernor Burnet and theMassachusetts Assembly, struck theprincipal people, occasioned thepaper and the manager of it to bemuch talk'd of, and in a few weeksbrought them all to be oursubscribers.

Their example was follow'd bymany, and our number went on

growing continually. This was oneof the first good effects of myhaving learnt a little to scribble;another was, that the leading men,seeing a newspaper now in thehands of one who could also handlea pen, thought it convenient tooblige and encourage me. Bradfordstill printed the votes, and laws, andother publick business. He hadprinted an address of the House tothe governor, in a coarse,blundering manner; we reprinted itelegantly and correctly, and sent one

to every member. They weresensible of the difference: itstrengthened the hands of ourfriends in the House, and they votedus their printers for the yearensuing.

Among my friends in the House Imust not forget Mr. Hamilton,before mentioned, who was thenreturned from England, and had aseat in it. He interested himself forme strongly in that instance, as hedid in many others afterward,continuing his patronage till his

death.[58]

Mr. Vernon, about this time, put mein mind of the debt I ow'd him, butdid not press me. I wrote him aningenuous letter ofacknowledgment, crav'd hisforbearance a little longer, which heallow'd me, and as soon as I wasable, I paid the principal withinterest, and many thanks; so thaterratum was in some degreecorrected.

But now another difficulty came

upon me which I had never the leastreason to expect. Mr. Meredith'sfather, who was to have paid for ourprinting-house, according to theexpectations given me, was able toadvance only one hundred poundscurrency, which had been paid; anda hundred more was due to themerchant, who grew impatient, andsu'd us all. We gave bail, but sawthat, if the money could not be rais'din time, the suit must soon come to ajudgment and execution, and ourhopeful prospects must, with us, be

ruined, as the press and letters mustbe sold for payment, perhaps at halfprice.

In this distress two true friends,whose kindness I have neverforgotten, nor ever shall forgetwhile I can remember any thing,came to me separately, unknown toeach other, and, without anyapplication from me, offering eachof them to advance me all the moneythat should be necessary to enableme to take the whole business uponmyself, if that should be

practicable; but they did not like mycontinuing the partnership withMeredith, who, as they said, wasoften seen drunk in the streets, andplaying at low games in alehouses,much to our discredit. These twofriends were William Coleman andRobert Grace. I told them I couldnot propose a separation while anyprospect remain'd of the Meredith'sfulfilling their part of ouragreement, because I thought myselfunder great obligations to them forwhat they had done, and would do if

they could; but, if they finally fail'din their performance, and ourpartnership must be dissolv'd, Ishould then think myself at liberty toaccept the assistance of my friends.

Thus the matter rested for sometime, when I said to my partner,"Perhaps your father is dissatisfiedat the part you have undertaken inthis affair of ours, and is unwillingto advance for you and me what hewould for you alone. If that is thecase, tell me, and I will resign thewhole to you, and go about my

business." "No," said he, "my fatherhas really been disappointed, and isreally unable; and I am unwilling todistress him farther. I see this is abusiness I am not fit for. I was breda farmer, and it was a folly in me tocome to town, and put myself, atthirty years of age, an apprentice tolearn a new trade. Many of ourWelsh people are going to settle inNorth Carolina, where land ischeap. I am inclin'd to go with them,and follow my old employment. Youmay find friends to assist you. If you

will take the debts of the companyupon you; return to my father thehundred pounds he has advanced;pay my little personal debts, andgive me thirty pounds and a newsaddle, I will relinquish thepartnership, and leave the whole inyour hands." I agreed to thisproposal: it was drawn up inwriting, sign'd, and seal'dimmediately. I gave him what hedemanded, and he went soon afterto Carolina, from whence he sentme next year two long letters,

containing the best account that hadbeen given of that country, theclimate, the soil, husbandry, etc., forin those matters he was veryjudicious. I printed them in thepapers, and they gave greatsatisfaction to the publick.

As soon as he was gone, I recurr'dto my two friends; and because Iwould not give an unkindpreference to either, I took half ofwhat each had offered and I wantedof one, and half of the other; paidoff the company's debts, and went

on with the business in my ownname, advertising that thepartnership was dissolved. I thinkthis was in or about the year 1729.

[50] "Not found in themanuscript journal, which wasleft among Franklin'spapers."—Bigelow.

[51] A crimp was the agent of ashipping company. Crimpswere sometimes employed todecoy men into such service asis here mentioned.

[52] The creed of an eighteenthcentury theological sect which,while believing in God, refusedto credit the possibility ofmiracles and to acknowledge

the validity of revelation.

[53] A great English poet,dramatist, and critic (1631-1700). The lines areinaccurately quoted fromDryden's Œdipus, Act III,Scene I, line 293.

[54] A Spanish term meaning acombination for politicalintrigue; here a club or society.

[55] A sheet 8-1/2 by 13-1/2inches, having the words propatria in translucent letters inthe body of the paper. Pica—a

size of type; as, A B C D:Long Primer—a smaller size oftype; as, A B C D.

[56] To arrange and lock uppages or columns of type in arectangular iron frame, readyfor printing.

[57] Reduced to completedisorder.

[58] I got his son once £500.—Marg. note.

VIII

BUSINESS SUCCESS ANDFIRST PUBLIC SERVICE

block-aBOUT this time there was acry among the people for morepaper money, only fifteen thousandpounds being extant in the province,and that soon to be sunk.[59] Thewealthy inhabitants oppos'd anyaddition, being against all papercurrency, from an apprehension thatit would depreciate, as it had done

in New England, to the prejudice ofall creditors. We had discuss'd thispoint in our Junto, where I was onthe side of an addition, beingpersuaded that the first small sumstruck in 1723 had done much goodby increasing the trade,employment, and number ofinhabitants in the province, since Inow saw all the old housesinhabited, and many new onesbuilding: whereas I rememberedwell, that when I first walk'd aboutthe streets of Philadelphia, eating

my roll, I saw most of the houses inWalnut Street, between Second andFront streets,[60] with bills on theirdoors, "To be let"; and manylikewise in Chestnut-street andother streets, which made me thenthink the inhabitants of the city weredeserting it one after another.

Our debates possess'd me so fullyof the subject, that I wrote andprinted an anonymous pamphlet onit, entitled "The Nature andNecessity of a Paper Currency." It

was well receiv'd by the commonpeople in general; but the rich mendislik'd it, for it increas'd andstrengthen'd the clamor for moremoney, and they happening to haveno writers among them that wereable to answer it, their oppositionslacken'd, and the point was carriedby a majority in the House. Myfriends there, who conceiv'd I hadbeen of some service, thought fit toreward me by employing me inprinting the money; a veryprofitable jobb and a great help to

me. This was another advantagegain'd by my being able to write.

The utility of this currency becameby time and experience so evidentas never afterwards to be muchdisputed; so that it grew soon tofifty-five thousand pounds, and in1739 to eighty thousand pounds,since which it arose during war toupwards of three hundred and fiftythousand pounds, trade, building,and inhabitants all the whileincreasing, tho' I now think there arelimits beyond which the quantity

may be hurtful.[61]

I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friendHamilton, the printing of theNewcastle paper money, anotherprofitable jobb as I then thought it;small things appearing great tothose in small circumstances; andthese, to me, were really greatadvantages, as they were greatencouragements. He procured forme, also, the printing of the lawsand votes of that government, whichcontinu'd in my hands as long as I

follow'd the business.

I now open'd a little stationer'sshop. I had in it blanks of all sorts,the correctest that ever appear'damong us, being assisted in that bymy friend Breintnal. I had alsopaper, parchment, chapmen's books,etc. One Whitemash, a compositor Ihad known in London, an excellentworkman, now came to me, andwork'd with me constantly anddiligently; and I took an apprentice,the son of Aquilla Rose.

I was under for the printing-house.In order to secure my credit andcharacter as a tradesman, I tookcare not only to be in realityindustrious and frugal, but to avoidall appearances to the contrary. Idrest plainly; I was seen at noplaces of idle diversion. I neverwent out a fishing or shooting; abook, indeed, sometimes debauch'dme from my work, but that wasseldom, snug, and gave no scandal;and, to show that I was not abovemy business, I sometimes brought

home the paper I purchas'd at thestores thro' the streets on awheelbarrow. Thus being esteem'dan industrious, thriving young man,and paying duly for what I bought,the merchants who importedstationery solicited my custom;others proposed supplying me withbooks, and I went on swimmingly.In the meantime, Keimer's creditand business declining daily, hewas at last forc'd to sell hisprinting-house to satisfy hiscreditors. He went to Barbadoes,

and there lived some years in verypoor circumstances.

I sometimes brought home the paperI purchas'd at the stores thro' the

streets on a wheelbarrow

His apprentice, David Harry, whomI had instructed while I work'd withhim, set up in his place atPhiladelphia, having bought hismaterials. I was at firstapprehensive of a powerful rival inHarry, as his friends were veryable, and had a good deal of

interest. I therefore propos'd apartnership to him, which he,fortunately for me, rejected withscorn. He was very proud, dress'dlike a gentleman, liv'd expensively,took much diversion and pleasureabroad, ran in debt, and neglectedhis business; upon which, allbusiness left him; and, findingnothing to do, he followed Keimerto Barbadoes, taking the printing-house with him. There thisapprentice employ'd his formermaster as a journeyman; they

quarrell'd often; Harry wentcontinually behindhand, and atlength was forc'd to sell his typesand return to his country work inPennsylvania. The person thatbought them employ'd Keimer to usethem, but in a few years he died.

There remained now no competitorwith me at Philadelphia but the oldone, Bradford; who was rich andeasy, did a little printing now andthen by straggling hands, but wasnot very anxious about the business.However, as he kept the post-office,

it was imagined he had betteropportunities of obtaining news; hispaper was thought a betterdistributer of advertisements thanmine, and therefore had many more,which was a profitable thing to him,and a disadvantage to me; for, tho' Idid indeed receive and send papersby the post, yet the publick opinionwas otherwise, for what I did sendwas by bribing the riders, who tookthem privately, Bradford beingunkind enough to forbid it, whichoccasion'd some resentment on my

part; and I thought so meanly of himfor it, that, when I afterward cameinto his situation, I took care neverto imitate it.

I had hitherto continu'd to boardwith Godfrey, who lived in part ofmy house with his wife andchildren, and had one side of theshop for his glazier's business, tho'he worked little, being alwaysabsorbed in his mathematics. Mrs.Godfrey projected a match for mewith a relation's daughter, tookopportunities of bringing us often

together, till a serious courtship onmy part ensu'd, the girl being inherself very deserving. The oldfolks encourag'd me by continualinvitations to supper, and by leavingus together, till at length it was timeto explain. Mrs. Godfrey manag'dour little treaty. I let her know that Iexpected as much money with theirdaughter as would pay off myremaining debt for the printing-house, which I believe was not thenabove a hundred pounds. Shebrought me word they had no such

sum to spare; I said they mightmortgage their house in the loan-office. The answer to this, aftersome days, was, that they did notapprove the match; that, on inquiryof Bradford, they had been informedthe printing business was not aprofitable one; the types wouldsoon be worn out, and more wanted;that S. Keimer and D. Harry hadfailed one after the other, and Ishould probably soon follow them;and, therefore, I was forbidden thehouse, and the daughter shut up.

Whether this was a real change ofsentiment or only artifice, on asupposition of our being too farengaged in affection to retract, andtherefore that we should steal amarriage, which would leave themat liberty to give or withhold whatthey pleas'd, I know not; but Isuspected the latter, resented it, andwent no more. Mrs. Godfreybrought me afterward some morefavorable accounts of theirdisposition, and would have drawnme on again; but I declared

absolutely my resolution to havenothing more to do with that family.This was resented by the Godfreys;we differed, and they removed,leaving me the whole house, and Iresolved to take no more inmates.

But this affair having turned mythoughts to marriage, I look'd roundme and made overtures ofacquaintance in other places; butsoon found that, the business of aprinter being generally thought apoor one, I was not to expect moneywith a wife, unless with such a one

as I should not otherwise thinkagreeable. A friendlycorrespondence as neighbours andold acquaintances had continuedbetween me and Mrs. Read's family,who all had a regard for me fromthe time of my first lodging in theirhouse. I was often invited there andconsulted in their affairs, wherein Isometimes was of service. I piti'dpoor Miss Read's unfortunatesituation, who was generallydejected, seldom chearful, andavoided company. I considered my

giddiness and inconstancy when inLondon as in a great degree thecause of her unhappiness, tho' themother was good enough to think thefault more her own than mine, asshe had prevented our marryingbefore I went thither, and persuadedthe other match in my absence. Ourmutual affection was revived, butthere were now great objections toour union. The match was indeedlooked upon as invalid, a precedingwife being said to be living inEngland; but this could not easily be

prov'd, because of the distance; and,tho' there was a report of his death,it was not certain. Then, tho' itshould be true, he had left manydebts, which his successor might becall'd upon to pay. We ventured,however, over all these difficulties,and I took her to wife, September1st, 1730. None of theinconveniences happened that wehad apprehended; she proved agood and faithful helpmate,[62]

assisted me much by attending theshop; we throve together, and have

ever mutually endeavour'd to makeeach other happy. Thus I correctedthat great erratum as well as Icould.

About this time, our club meeting,not at a tavern, but in a little roomof Mr. Grace's, set apart for thatpurpose, a proposition was made byme, that, since our books were oftenreferr'd to in our disquisitions uponthe queries, it might be convenientto us to have them altogether wherewe met, that upon occasion theymight be consulted; and by thus

clubbing our books to a commonlibrary, we should, while we lik'dto keep them together, have each ofus the advantage of using the booksof all the other members, whichwould be nearly as beneficial as ifeach owned the whole. It was lik'dand agreed to, and we fill'd one endof the room with such books as wecould best spare. The number wasnot so great as we expected; andtho' they had been of great use, yetsome inconveniences occurring forwant of due care of them, the

collection, after about a year, wasseparated, and each took his bookshome again.

And now I set on foot my firstproject of a public nature, that for asubscription library. I drew up theproposals, got them put into form byour great scrivener, Brockden, and,by the help of my friends in theJunto, procured fifty subscribers offorty shillings each to begin with,and ten shillings a year for fiftyyears, the term our company was tocontinue. We afterwards obtain'd a

charter, the company beingincreased to one hundred: this wasthe mother of all the NorthAmerican subscription libraries,now so numerous. It is become agreat thing itself, and continuallyincreasing. These libraries haveimproved the general conversationof the Americans, made the commontradesmen and farmers as intelligentas most gentlemen from othercountries, and perhaps havecontributed in some degree to thestand so generally made throughout

the colonies in defense of theirprivileges.[63]

Mem°. Thus far was written withthe intention express'd in thebeginning and therefore containsseveral little family anecdotes of noimportance to others. What followswas written many years after incompliance with the advicecontain'd in these letters, andaccordingly intended for the public.The affairs of the Revolutionoccasion'd the interruption.[64]

[Continuation of the Account of myLife, begun at Passy, near Paris,1784.]

It is some time since I receiv'd theabove letters, but I have been toobusy till now to think of complyingwith the request they contain. Itmight, too, be much better done if Iwere at home among my papers,which would aid my memory, andhelp to ascertain dates; but myreturn being uncertain, and havingjust now a little leisure, I willendeavour to recollect and write

what I can; if I live to get home, itmay there be corrected andimprov'd.

Not having any copy here of what isalready written, I know not whetheran account is given of the means Iused to establish the Philadelphiapublic library, which, from a smallbeginning, is now become soconsiderable, though I remember tohave come down to near the time ofthat transaction (1730). I willtherefore begin here with an accountof it, which may be struck out if

found to have been already given.

At the time I establish'd myself inPennsylvania, there was not a goodbookseller's shop in any of thecolonies to the southward ofBoston. In New York and Philad'athe printers were indeed stationers;they sold only paper, etc., almanacs,ballads, and a few common school-books. Those who lov'd readingwere obliged to send for theirbooks from England; the membersof the Junto had each a few. We hadleft the alehouse, where we first

met, and hired a room to hold ourclub in. I propos'd that we shouldall of us bring our books to thatroom, where they would not only beready to consult in our conferences,but become a common benefit, eachof us being at liberty to borrow suchas he wish'd to read at home. Thiswas accordingly done, and for sometime contented us.

Finding the advantage of this littlecollection, I propos'd to render thebenefit from books more common,by commencing a public

subscription library. I drew a sketchof the plan and rules that would benecessary, and got a skilfulconveyancer, Mr. CharlesBrockden, to put the whole in formof articles of agreement to besubscribed, by which eachsubscriber engag'd to pay a certainsum down for the first purchase ofbooks, and an annual contributionfor increasing them. So few werethe readers at that time inPhiladelphia, and the majority of usso poor, that I was not able, with

great industry, to find more than fiftypersons, mostly young tradesmen,willing to pay down for thispurpose forty shillings each, and tenshillings per annum. On this littlefund we began. The books wereimported; the library was openedone day in the week for lending tothe subscribers, on their promissorynotes to pay double the value if notduly returned. The institution soonmanifested its utility, was imitatedby other towns, and in otherprovinces. The libraries were

augmented by donations; readingbecame fashionable; and ourpeople, having no publickamusements to divert their attentionfrom study, became betteracquainted with books, and in a fewyears were observ'd by strangers tobe better instructed and moreintelligent than people of the samerank generally are in othercountries.

When we were about to sign theabove mentioned articles, whichwere to be binding on us, our heirs,

etc., for fifty years, Mr. Brockden,the scrivener, said to us, "You areyoung men, but it is scarcelyprobable that any of you will live tosee the expiration of the term fix'din the instrument." A number of us,however, are yet living; but theinstrument was after a few yearsrendered null by a charter thatincorporated and gave perpetuity tothe company.

The objections and reluctances Imet with in soliciting thesubscriptions, made me soon feel

the impropriety of presenting one'sself as the proposer of any usefulproject, that might be suppos'd toraise one's reputation in the smallestdegree above that of one'sneighbours, when one has need oftheir assistance to accomplish thatproject. I therefore put myself asmuch as I could out of sight, andstated it as a scheme of a number offriends, who had requested me togo about and propose it to such asthey thought lovers of reading. Inthis way my affair went on more

smoothly, and I ever after practis'dit on such occasions; and, from myfrequent successes, can heartilyrecommend it. The present littlesacrifice of your vanity willafterwards be amply repaid. If itremains a while uncertain to whomthe merit belongs, someone morevain than yourself will beencouraged to claim it, and theneven envy will be disposed to doyou justice by plucking thoseassumed feathers, and restoringthem to their right owner.

This library afforded me the meansof improvement by constant study,for which I set apart an hour or twoeach day, and thus repair'd in somedegree the loss of the learnededucation my father once intendedfor me. Reading was the onlyamusement I allow'd myself. I spentno time in taverns, games, orfrolicks of any kind; and myindustry in my business continu'd asindefatigable as it was necessary. Iwas indebted for my printing-house;I had a young family coming on to

be educated, and I had to contendwith for business two printers, whowere established in the place beforeme. My circumstances, however,grew daily easier. My originalhabits of frugality continuing, andmy father having, among hisinstructions to me when a boy,frequently repeated a proverb ofSolomon, "Seest thou a man diligentin his calling, he shall stand beforekings, he shall not stand beforemean men," I from thenceconsidered industry as a means of

obtaining wealth and distinction,which encourag'd me, tho' I did notthink that I should ever literallystand before kings, which,however, has since happened; for Ihave stood before five, and evenhad the honor of sitting down withone, the King of Denmark, to dinner.

We have an English proverb thatsays, "He that would thrive, mustask his wife." It was lucky for methat I had one as much dispos'd toindustry and frugality as myself. Sheassisted me chearfully in my

business, folding and stitchingpamphlets, tending shop, purchasingold linen rags for the paper-makers,etc., etc. We kept no idle servants,our table was plain and simple, ourfurniture of the cheapest. Forinstance, my breakfast was a longtime break and milk (no tea), and Iate it out of a twopenny earthenporringer, with a pewter spoon. Butmark how luxury will enterfamilies, and make a progress, inspite of principle: being call'd onemorning to breakfast, I found it in a

China bowl, with a spoon of silver!They had been bought for mewithout my knowledge by my wife,and had cost her the enormous sumof three-and-twenty shillings, forwhich she had no other excuse orapology to make, but that shethought her husband deserv'd asilver spoon and China bowl aswell as any of his neighbors. Thiswas the first appearance of plateand China in our house, whichafterward, in a course of years, asour wealth increas'd, augmented

gradually to several hundred poundsin value.

I had been religiously educated as aPresbyterian; and though some ofthe dogmas of that persuasion, suchas the eternal decrees of God,election, reprobation, etc.,appeared to me unintelligible,others doubtful, and I early absentedmyself from the public assembliesof the sect, Sunday being mystudying day, I never was withoutsome religious principles. I neverdoubted, for instance, the existence

of the Deity; that he made the world,and govern'd it by his Providence;that the most acceptable service ofGod was the doing good to man;that our souls are immortal; and thatall crime will be punished, andvirtue rewarded, either here orhereafter. These I esteem'd theessentials of every religion; and,being to be found in all the religionswe had in our country, I respectedthem all, tho' with different degreesof respect, as I found them more orless mix'd with other articles,

which, without any tendency toinspire, promote, or confirmmorality, serv'd principally todivide us, and make us unfriendly toone another. This respect to all,with an opinion that the worst hadsome good effects, induc'd me toavoid all discourse that might tendto lessen the good opinion anothermight have of his own religion; andas our province increas'd in people,and new places of worship werecontinually wanted, and generallyerected by voluntary contribution,

my mite for such purpose, whatevermight be the sect, was neverrefused.

Tho' I seldom attended any publicworship, I had still an opinion of itspropriety, and of its utility whenrightly conducted, and I regularlypaid my annual subscription for thesupport of the only Presbyterianminister or meeting we had inPhiladelphia. He us'd to visit mesometimes as a friend, andadmonished me to attend hisadministrations, and I was now and

then prevail'd on to do so, once forfive Sundays successively. Had hebeen in my opinion a good preacher,perhaps I might have continued,[65]

notwithstanding the occasion I hadfor the Sunday's leisure in mycourse of study; but his discourseswere chiefly either polemicarguments, or explications of thepeculiar doctrines of our sect, andwere all to me very dry,uninteresting, and unedifying, sincenot a single moral principle wasinculcated or enforc'd, their aim

seeming to be rather to make usPresbyterians than good citizens.

At length he took for his text thatverse of the fourth chapter ofPhilippians, "Finally, brethren,whatsoever things are true, honest,just, pure, lovely, or of goodreport, if there be any virtue, orany praise, think on these things."And I imagin'd, in a sermon on sucha text, we could not miss of havingsome morality. But he confin'dhimself to five points only, as meantby the apostle, viz.: 1. Keeping holy

the Sabbath day. 2. Being diligent inreading the holy Scriptures. 3.Attending duly the publick worship.4. Partaking of the Sacrament. 5.Paying a due respect to God'sministers. These might be all goodthings; but, as they were not the kindof good things that I expected fromthat text, I despaired of evermeeting with them from any other,was disgusted, and attended hispreaching no more. I had someyears before compos'd a littleLiturgy, or form of prayer, for my

own private use (viz., in 1728),entitled, Articles of Belief and Actsof Religion. I return'd to the use ofthis, and went no more to the publicassemblies. My conduct might beblameable, but I leave it, withoutattempting further to excuse it; mypresent purpose being to relatefacts, and not to make apologies forthem.

[59] Recalled to be redeemed.

[60] This part of Philadelphia isnow the center of thewholesale business district.

[61] Paper money is a promiseto pay its face value in gold orsilver. When a state or nationissues more such promises thanthere is a likelihood of its beingable to redeem, the paperrepresenting the promisesdepreciates in value. Before thesuccess of the Colonies in theRevolution was assured, it tookhundreds of dollars of theirpaper money to buy a pair ofboots.

[62] Mrs. Franklin survived hermarriage over forty years.Franklin's correspondence

abounds with evidence thattheir union was a happy one."We are grown old together,and if she has any faults, I amso used to them that I don'tperceive them." The followingis a stanza from one ofFranklin's own songs writtenfor the Junto:

"Of their Chloes andPhyllises poetsmay prate,

I sing my plaincountry Joan,

These twelve yearsmy wife, still thejoy of my life,

Blest day that Imade her myown."

[63] Here the first part of theAutobiography, written atTwyford in 1771, ends. Thesecond part, which follows,was written at Passy in 1784.

[64] After this memorandum,Franklin inserted letters fromAbel James and Benjamin

Vaughan, urging him tocontinue his Autobiography.

[65] Franklin expressed adifferent view about the dutyof attending church later.

IX

PLAN FOR ATTAININGMORAL PERFECTION

block-IT was about this time I

conceived the bold and arduousproject of arriving at moralperfection. I wish'd to live withoutcommitting any fault at any time; Iwould conquer all that either naturalinclination, custom, or companymight lead me into. As I knew, orthought I knew, what was right andwrong, I did not see why I might notalways do the one and avoid theother. But I soon found I hadundertaken a task of more difficultythan I had imagined.[66] While mycare was employ'd in guarding

against one fault, I was oftensurprised by another; habit took theadvantage of inattention; inclinationwas sometimes too strong forreason. I concluded, at length, thatthe mere speculative conviction thatit was our interest to be completelyvirtuous, was not sufficient toprevent our slipping; and that thecontrary habits must be broken, andgood ones acquired and established,before we can have any dependenceon a steady, uniform rectitude ofconduct. For this purpose I

therefore contrived the followingmethod.

In the various enumerations of themoral virtues I had met with in myreading, I found the catalogue moreor less numerous, as differentwriters included more or fewerideas under the same name.Temperance, for example, was bysome confined to eating anddrinking, while by others it wasextended to mean the moderatingevery other pleasure, appetite,inclination, or passion, bodily or

mental, even to our avarice andambition. I propos'd to myself, forthe sake of clearness, to use rathermore names, with fewer ideasannex'd to each, than a few nameswith more ideas; and I includedunder thirteen names of virtues allthat at that time occurr'd to me asnecessary or desirable, and annexedto each a short precept, which fullyexpress'd the extent I gave to itsmeaning.

These names of virtues, with theirprecepts, were:

1. TEMPERANCE

Eat not to dullness; drink not toelevation.

2. SILENCE.

Speak not but what may benefitothers or yourself; avoid triflingconversation.

3. ORDER.

Let all your things have their places;let each part of your business haveits time.

4. RESOLUTION.

Resolve to perform what you ought;perform without fail what youresolve.

5. FRUGALITY.

Make no expense but to do good toothers or yourself; i. e., wastenothing.

6. INDUSTRY.

Lose no time; be always employ'din something useful; cut off all

unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY.

Use no hurtful deceit; thinkinnocently and justly; and, if youspeak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE.

Wrong none by doing injuries, oromitting the benefits that are yourduty.

9. MODERATION.

Avoid extreams; forbear resentinginjuries so much as you think theydeserve.

10. CLEANLINESS.

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body,cloaths, or habitation.

11. TRANQUILLITY.

Be not disturbed at trifles, or ataccidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY.

13. HUMILITY.

Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

My intention being to acquire thehabitude of all these virtues, Ijudg'd it would be well not todistract my attention by attemptingthe whole at once, but to fix it onone of them at a time; and, when Ishould be master of that, then toproceed to another, and so on, till Ishould have gone thro' the thirteen;and, as the previous acquisition ofsome might facilitate the acquisition

of certain others, I arrang'd themwith that view, as they stand above.Temperance first, as it tends toprocure that coolness and clearnessof head, which is so necessarywhere constant vigilance was to bekept up, and guard maintainedagainst the unremitting attraction ofancient habits, and the force ofperpetual temptations. This beingacquir'd and establish'd, Silencewould be more easy; and my desirebeing to gain knowledge at the sametime that I improv'd in virtue, and

considering that in conversation itwas obtain'd rather by the use of theears than of the tongue, andtherefore wishing to break a habit Iwas getting into of prattling,punning, and joking, which onlymade me acceptable to triflingcompany, I gave Silence the secondplace. This and the next, Order, Iexpected would allow me moretime for attending to my project andmy studies. Resolution, oncebecome habitual, would keep mefirm in my endeavours to obtain all

the subsequent virtues; Frugalityand Industry freeing me from myremaining debt, and producingaffluence and independence, wouldmake more easy the practice ofSincerity and Justice, etc., etc.Conceiving then, that, agreeably tothe advice of Pythagoras[67] in hisGolden Verses, daily examinationwould be necessary, I contrived thefollowing method for conductingthat examination.

I made a little book, in which I

allotted a page for each of thevirtues.[68] I rul'd each page withred ink, so as to have sevencolumns, one for each day of theweek, marking each column with aletter for the day. I cross'd thesecolumns with thirteen red lines,marking the beginning of each linewith the first letter of one of thevirtues, on which line, and in itsproper column, I might mark, by alittle black spot, every fault I foundupon examination to have beencommitted respecting that virtue

upon that day.

Form of the pages.TEMPERANCE.

EAT NOT TO DULLNESSDRINK NOT TO ELEVATION. S. M. T. W. T. F. S.T. S. * * * * O. * * * * * * *R. * * F. * * I. *

S. J. M. C. T. C. H. J.

I determined to give a week's strictattention to each of the virtuessuccessively. Thus, in the firstweek, my great guard was to avoid

every the least offense againstTemperance, leaving the othervirtues to their ordinary chance,only marking every evening thefaults of the day. Thus, if in the firstweek I could keep my first line,marked T, clear of spots, I suppos'dthe habit of that virtue so muchstrengthen'd, and its oppositeweaken'd, that I might ventureextending my attention to include thenext, and for the following weekkeep both lines clear of spots.Proceeding thus to the last, I could

go thro' a course compleat inthirteen weeks, and four courses ina year. And like him who, having agarden to weed, does not attempt toeradicate all the bad herbs at once,which would exceed his reach andhis strength, but works on one of thebeds at a time, and, havingaccomplish'd the first, proceeds to asecond, so I should have, I hoped,the encouraging pleasure of seeingon my pages the progress I made invirtue, by clearing successively mylines of their spots, till in the end,

by a number of courses, I should behappy in viewing a clean book,after a thirteen weeks' dailyexamination.

This my little book had for its mottothese lines from Addison's Cato:

"Here will I hold. If there's apower above us

(And that there is, all naturecries aloud

Thro' all her works), Hemust delight in virtue;

And that which he delightsin must be happy."

Another from Cicero,

"O vitæ Philosophia dux! Ovirtutum indagatrix expultrixquevitiorum! Unus dies, bene et expræceptis tuis actus, peccantiimmortalitati est anteponendus."[69]

Another from the Proverbs ofSolomon, speaking of wisdom orvirtue:

"Length of days is in her righthand, and in her left hand riches andhonour. Her ways are ways ofpleasantness, and all her paths arepeace." iii. 16, 17.

And conceiving God to be thefountain of wisdom, I thought it rightand necessary to solicit hisassistance for obtaining it; to thisend I formed the following littleprayer, which was prefix'd to mytables of examination, for daily use.

"O powerful Goodness!

bountiful Father! merciful Guide!Increase in me that wisdom whichdiscovers my truest interest.Strengthen my resolutions toperform what that wisdom dictates.Accept my kind offices to thy otherchildren as the only return in mypower for thy continual favours tome."

I used also sometimes a little prayerwhich I took from Thomson'sPoems, viz.:

"Father of light and life, thou Good

Supreme!O teach me what is good; teach me

Thyself!Save me from folly, vanity, and

vice,From every low pursuit; and fill my

soulWith knowledge, conscious peace,

and virtue pure;Sacred, substantial, never-fading

bliss!"

The precept of Order requiring thatevery part of my business should

have its allotted time, one page inmy little book contain'd thefollowing scheme of employmentfor the twenty-four hours of anatural day.

THEMORNING.Question

What goodshall I do

para

5

para

Rise,wash, andaddressPowerfullGoodness!Contriveday'sbusiness,and takethe

6

shall I dothis day?

7

theresolutionof the day:prosecutethe presentstudy, andbreakfast.

8

para Work.91011

NOON. para

12

para

Read, oroverlookmyaccounts,and dine.

1

2

para Work.345

EVENING Question.

Whatgoodhave I

done to-day?

para

6

para

Put things in theirplaces. Supper. Music ordiversion, orconversation.Examinationof the day.

78

9

NIGHT para

10

para Sleep.

11121234

I enter'd upon the execution of thisplan for self-examination, andcontinu'd it with occasionalintermissions for some time. I wassurpris'd to find myself so muchfuller of faults than I had imagined;

but I had the satisfaction of seeingthem diminish. To avoid the troubleof renewing now and then my littlebook, which, by scraping out themarks on the paper of old faults tomake room for new ones in a newcourse, became full of holes, Itransferr'd my tables and precepts tothe ivory leaves of a memorandumbook, on which the lines weredrawn with red ink, that made adurable stain, and on those lines Imark'd my faults with a black-leadpencil, which marks I could easily

wipe out with a wet sponge. After awhile I went thro' one course onlyin a year, and afterward only one inseveral years, till at length I omittedthem entirely, being employ'd invoyages and business abroad, witha multiplicity of affairs thatinterfered; but I always carried mylittle book with me.

My scheme of ORDER gave me themost trouble;[70] and I found that,tho' it might be practicable where aman's business was such as to leave

him the disposition of his time, thatof a journeyman printer, forinstance, it was not possible to beexactly observed by a master, whomust mix with the world, and oftenreceive people of business at theirown hours. Order, too, with regardto places for things, papers, etc., Ifound extreamly difficult to acquire.I had not been early accustomed toit, and, having an exceeding goodmemory, I was not so sensible of theinconvenience attending want ofmethod. This article, therefore, cost

me so much painful attention, andmy faults in it vexed me so much,and I made so little progress inamendment, and had such frequentrelapses, that I was almost ready togive up the attempt, and contentmyself with a faulty character in thatrespect, like the man who, in buyingan ax of a smith, my neighbour,desired to have the whole of itssurface as bright as the edge. Thesmith consented to grind it bright forhim if he would turn the wheel; heturn'd, while the smith press'd the

broad face of the ax hard andheavily on the stone, which madethe turning of it very fatiguing. Theman came every now and then fromthe wheel to see how the work wenton, and at length would take his axas it was, without farther grinding."No," said the smith, "turn on, turnon; we shall have it bright by-and-by; as yet, it is only speckled.""Yes," says the man, "but I think Ilike a speckled ax best." And Ibelieve this may have been the casewith many, who, having, for want of

some such means as I employ'd,found the difficulty of obtaininggood and breaking bad habits inother points of vice and virtue, havegiven up the struggle, and concludedthat "a speckled ax was best"; forsomething, that pretended to bereason, was every now and thensuggesting to me that such extreamnicety as I exacted of myself mightbe a kind of foppery in morals,which, if it were known, wouldmake me ridiculous; that a perfectcharacter might be attended with the

inconvenience of being envied andhated; and that a benevolent manshould allow a few faults inhimself, to keep his friends incountenance.

The smith consented to grind itbright for him if he would turn the

wheel

In truth, I found myself incorrigiblewith respect to Order; and now I amgrown old, and my memory bad, Ifeel very sensibly the want of it.But, on the whole, tho' I neverarrived at the perfection I had beenso ambitious of obtaining, but fellfar short of it, yet I was, by theendeavour, a better and a happierman than I otherwise should havebeen if I had not attempted it; as

those who aim at perfect writing byimitating the engraved copies, tho'they never reach the wish'd-forexcellence of those copies, theirhand is mended by the endeavour,and is tolerable while it continuesfair and legible.

It may be well my posterity shouldbe informed that to this littleartifice, with the blessing of God,their ancestor ow'd the constantfelicity of his life, down to his 79thyear, in which this is written. Whatreverses may attend the remainder

is in the hand of Providence; but, ifthey arrive, the reflection on pasthappiness enjoy'd ought to help hisbearing them with more resignation.To Temperance he ascribes hislong-continued health, and what isstill left to him of a goodconstitution; to Industry andFrugality, the early easiness of hiscircumstances and acquisition of hisfortune, with all that knowledge thatenabled him to be a useful citizen,and obtained for him some degreeof reputation among the learned; to

Sincerity and Justice, theconfidence of his country, and thehonorable employs it conferredupon him; and to the joint influenceof the whole mass of the virtues,[71]

even in the imperfect state he wasable to acquire them, all thatevenness of temper, and thatcheerfulness in conversation, whichmakes his company still sought for,and agreeable even to his youngeracquaintance. I hope, therefore, thatsome of my descendants may followthe example and reap the benefit.

It will be remark'd that, tho' myscheme was not wholly withoutreligion, there was in it no mark ofany of the distinguishing tenets ofany particular sect. I had purposelyavoided them; for, being fullypersuaded of the utility andexcellency of my method, and that itmight be serviceable to people inall religions, and intending sometime or other to publish it, I wouldnot have anything in it that shouldprejudice anyone, of any sect,against it. I purposed writing a little

comment on each virtue, in which Iwould have shown the advantagesof possessing it, and the mischiefsattending its opposite vice; and Ishould have called my book THE

ART OF VIRTUE,[72] because itwould have shown the means andmanner of obtaining virtue, whichwould have distinguished it fromthe mere exhortation to be good, thatdoes not instruct and indicate themeans, but is like the apostle's manof verbal charity, who only withoutshowing to the naked and hungry

how or where they might get clothesor victuals, exhorted them to be fedand clothed.—James ii. 15, 16.

But it so happened that my intentionof writing and publishing thiscomment was never fulfilled. I did,indeed, from time to time, put downshort hints of the sentiments,reasonings, etc., to be made use ofin it, some of which I have still byme; but the necessary close attentionto private business in the earlierpart of my life, and public businesssince, have occasioned my

postponing it; for, it beingconnected in my mind with a greatand extensive project, that requiredthe whole man to execute, andwhich an unforeseen succession ofemploys prevented my attending to,it has hitherto remain'd unfinish'd.

In this piece it was my design toexplain and enforce this doctrine,that vicious actions are not hurtfulbecause they are forbidden, butforbidden because they are hurtful,the nature of man alone considered;that it was, therefore, everyone's

interest to be virtuous who wish'dto be happy even in this world; andI should, from this circumstance(there being always in the world anumber of rich merchants, nobility,states, and princes, who have needof honest instruments for themanagement of their affairs, andsuch being so rare), haveendeavoured to convince youngpersons that no qualities were solikely to make a poor man's fortuneas those of probity and integrity.

My list of virtues contain'd at first

but twelve; but a Quaker friendhaving kindly informed me that Iwas generally thought proud; thatmy pride show'd itself frequently inconversation; that I was not contentwith being in the right whendiscussing any point, but wasoverbearing, and rather insolent, ofwhich he convinc'd me bymentioning several instances; Idetermined endeavouring to curemyself, if I could, of this vice orfolly among the rest, and I addedHumility to my list, giving an

extensive meaning to the word.

I cannot boast of much success inacquiring the reality of this virtue,but I had a good deal with regard tothe appearance of it. I made it arule to forbear all directcontradiction to the sentiments ofothers, and all positive assertion ofmy own. I even forbid myself,agreeably to the old laws of ourJunto, the use of every word orexpression in the language thatimported a fix'd opinion, such ascertainly, undoubtedly, etc., and I

adopted, instead of them, Iconceive, I apprehend, or Iimagine a thing to be so or so; or itso appears to me at present. Whenanother asserted something that Ithought an error, I deny'd myself thepleasure of contradicting himabruptly, and of showingimmediately some absurdity in hisproposition; and in answering Ibegan by observing that in certaincases or circumstances his opinionwould be right, but in the presentcase there appear'd or seem'd to me

some difference, etc. I soon foundthe advantage of this change in mymanner; the conversations I engag'din went on more pleasantly. Themodest way in which I propos'd myopinions procur'd them a readierreception and less contradiction; Ihad less mortification when I wasfound to be in the wrong, and I moreeasily prevail'd with others to giveup their mistakes and join with mewhen I happened to be in the right.

And this mode, which I at first puton with some violence to natural

inclination, became at length soeasy, and so habitual to me, thatperhaps for these fifty years past noone has ever heard a dogmaticalexpression escape me. And to thishabit (after my character ofintegrity) I think it principallyowing that I had early so muchweight with my fellow-citizenswhen I proposed new institutions,or alterations in the old, and somuch influence in public councilswhen I became a member; for I wasbut a bad speaker, never eloquent,

subject to much hesitation in mychoice of words, hardly correct inlanguage, and yet I generally carriedmy points.

In reality, there is, perhaps, no oneof our natural passions so hard tosubdue as pride. Disguise it,struggle with it, beat it down, stifleit, mortify it as much as one pleases,it is still alive, and will every nowand then peep out and show itself;you will see it, perhaps, often inthis history; for, even if I couldconceive that I had compleatly

overcome it, I should probably beproud of my humility.

[Thus far written at Passy, 1784.]

["I am now about to write at home,August, 1788, but cannot have thehelp expected from my papers,many of them being lost in the war.I have, however, found thefollowing."][73]

HAVING mentioned a great andextensive project which I hadconceiv'd, it seems proper that

some account should be here givenof that project and its object. Itsfirst rise in my mind appears in thefollowing little paper, accidentallypreserv'd, viz.:

Observations on my readinghistory, in Library, May 19th, 1731.

"That the great affairs of the world,the wars, revolutions, etc., arecarried on and effected by parties.

"That the view of these parties istheir present general interest, or

what they take to be such.

"That the different views of thesedifferent parties occasion allconfusion.

"That while a party is carrying on ageneral design, each man has hisparticular private interest in view.

"That as soon as a party has gain'dits general point, each memberbecomes intent upon his particularinterest; which, thwarting others,breaks that party into divisions, and

occasions more confusion.

"That few in public affairs act froma mere view of the good of theircountry, whatever they may pretend;and, tho' their actings bring realgood to their country, yet menprimarily considered that their ownand their country's interest wasunited, and did not act from aprinciple of benevolence.

"That fewer still, in public affairs,act with a view to the good ofmankind.

"There seems to me at present to begreat occasion for raising a UnitedParty for Virtue, by forming thevirtuous and good men of all nationsinto a regular body, to be govern'dby suitable good and wise rules,which good and wise men mayprobably be more unanimous intheir obedience to, than commonpeople are to common laws.

"I at present think that whoeverattempts this aright, and is wellqualified, cannot fail of pleasingGod, and of meeting with success.

B. F."

Revolving this project in my mind,as to be undertaken hereafter, whenmy circumstances should afford methe necessary leisure, I put downfrom time to time, on pieces ofpaper, such thoughts as occurr'd tome respecting it. Most of these arelost; but I find one purporting to bethe substance of an intended creed,containing, as I thought, theessentials of every known religion,and being free of everything thatmight shock the professors of any

religion. It is express'd in thesewords, viz.:

"That there is one God, who madeall things.

"That he governs the world by hisprovidence.

"That he ought to be worshiped byadoration, prayer, and thanksgiving.

"But that the most acceptableservice of God is doing good toman.

"That the soul is immortal.

"And that God will certainlyreward virtue and punish vice,either here or hereafter."

My ideas at that time were, that thesect should be begun and spread atfirst among young and single menonly; that each person to be initiatedshould not only declare his assent tosuch creed, but should haveexercised himself with the thirteenweeks' examination and practice ofthe virtues, as in the

beforemention'd model; that theexistence of such a society shouldbe kept a secret, till it was becomeconsiderable, to preventsolicitations for the admission ofimproper persons, but that themembers should each of themsearch among his acquaintance foringenuous, well-disposed youths, towhom, with prudent caution, thescheme should be graduallycommunicated; that the membersshould engage to afford theiradvice, assistance, and support to

each other in promoting oneanother's interests, business, andadvancement in life; that, fordistinction, we should be call'd TheSociety of the Free and Easy: free,as being, by the general practiceand habit of the virtues, free fromthe dominion of vice; andparticularly by the practice ofindustry and frugality, free fromdebt, which exposes a man toconfinement, and a species ofslavery to his creditors.

This is as much as I can now

recollect of the project, except that Icommunicated it in part to twoyoung men, who adopted it withsome enthusiasm; but my thennarrow circumstances, and thenecessity I was under of stickingclose to my business, occasionedmy postponing the furtherprosecution of it at that time; and mymultifarious occupations, publicand private, induc'd me to continuepostponing, so that it has beenomitted till I have no longer strengthor activity left sufficient for such an

enterprise; though I am still ofopinion that it was a practicablescheme, and might have been veryuseful, by forming a great number ofgood citizens; and I was notdiscourag'd by the seemingmagnitude of the undertaking, as Ihave always thought that one man oftolerable abilities may work greatchanges, and accomplish greataffairs among mankind, if he firstforms a good plan, and, cutting offall amusements or otheremployments that would divert his

attention, makes the execution ofthat same plan his sole study andbusiness.

[66] Compare Philippians iv, 8.

[67] A famous Greekphilosopher, who lived about582-500 B. C. The GoldenVerses here ascribed to him areprobably of later origin. "Thetime which he recommends forthis work is about even or bed-time, that we may conclude theaction of the day with thejudgment of conscience,making the examination of our

conversation an evening songto God."

[68] This "little book" is datedJuly 1, 1733.—W. T. F.

[69] "O philosophy, guide oflife! O searcher out of virtueand exterminator of vice! Oneday spent well and inaccordance with thy precepts isworth an immortality ofsin."—Tusculan Inquiries,Book V.

[70] Professor McMaster tellsus that when Franklin was

American Agent in France, hislack of business order was asource of annoyance to hiscolleagues and friends."Strangers who came to seehim were amazed to beholdpapers of the greatestimportance scattered in themost careless way over thetable and floor."

[71] While there can be noquestion that Franklin's moralimprovement and happinesswere due to the practice ofthese virtues, yet most peoplewill agree that we shall have to

go back of his plan for theimpelling motive to a virtuouslife. Franklin's own suggestionthat the scheme smacks of"foppery in morals" seemsjustified. Woodrow Wilson wellputs it: "Men do not take firefrom such thoughts, unlesssomething deeper, which ismissing here, shine throughthem. What may have seemedto the eighteenth century asystem of morals seems to usnothing more vital than acollection of the precepts ofgood sense and sound conduct.

What redeems it from pettinessin this book is the scope ofpower and of usefulness to beseen in Franklin himself, whoset these standards up in allseriousness and candor for hisown life." See Galatians,chapter V, for the Christianplan of moral perfection.

[72] Nothing so likely to make aman's fortune as virtue.—Marg. note.

[73] This is a marginalmemorandum.—B.

X

POOR RICHARD'S ALMANACAND OTHER ACTIVITIES

block-IN 1732 I first publish'd myAlmanack, under the name ofRichard Saunders; it was continu'dby me about twenty-five years,commonly call'd Poor Richard'sAlmanac.[74] I endeavour'd to makeit both entertaining and useful, and it

accordingly came to be in suchdemand, that I reap'd considerableprofit from it, vending annually nearten thousand. And observing that itwas generally read, scarce anyneighborhood in the province beingwithout it, I consider'd it as aproper vehicle for conveyinginstruction among the commonpeople, who bought scarcely anyother books; I therefore filled all thelittle spaces that occurr'd betweenthe remarkable days in the calendarwith proverbial sentences, chiefly

such as inculcated industry andfrugality, as the means of procuringwealth, and thereby securing virtue;it being more difficult for a man inwant, to act always honestly, as, touse here one of those proverbs, it ishard for an empty sack to standupright.

These proverbs, which containedthe wisdom of many ages andnations, I assembled and form'd intoa connected discourse prefix'd tothe Almanack of 1757, as theharangue of a wise old man to the

people attending an auction. Thebringing all these scatter'd councilsthus into a focus enabled them tomake greater impression. The piece,being universally approved, wascopied in all the newspapers of theContinent; reprinted in Britain on abroadside, to be stuck up in houses;two translations were made of it inFrench, and great numbers boughtby the clergy and gentry, todistribute gratis among their poorparishioners and tenants. InPennsylvania, as it discouraged

useless expense in foreignsuperfluities, some thought it had itsshare of influence in producing thatgrowing plenty of money which wasobservable for several years afterits publication.

Two pages from PoorRichard's Almanac for 1736.Size of original. Reproducedfrom a copy at the New York

Public Library.

June pagefrom Poor

July pagefrom Poor

Richard'sAlmanac for

1736

Richard'sAlmanac for

1736

I considered my newspaper, also, asanother means of communicatinginstruction, and in that viewfrequently reprinted in it extractsfrom the Spectator, and other moralwriters; and sometimes publish'dlittle pieces of my own, which hadbeen first composed for reading inour Junto. Of these are a Socraticdialogue, tending to prove that,whatever might be his parts and

abilities, a vicious man could notproperly be called a man of sense;and a discourse on self-denial,showing that virtue was not securetill its practice became a habitude,and was free from the opposition ofcontrary inclinations. These may befound in the papers about thebeginning of 1735.[75]

In the conduct of my newspaper, Icarefully excluded all libeling andpersonal abuse, which is of lateyears become so disgraceful to our

country. Whenever I was solicitedto insert anything of that kind, andthe writers pleaded, as theygenerally did, the liberty of thepress, and that a newspaper waslike a stage-coach, in which anyonewho would pay had a right to aplace, my answer was, that I wouldprint the piece separately if desired,and the author might have as manycopies as he pleased to distributehimself, but that I would not takeupon me to spread his detraction;and that, having contracted with my

subscribers to furnish them withwhat might be either useful orentertaining, I could not fill theirpapers with private altercation, inwhich they had no concern, withoutdoing them manifest injustice. Now,many of our printers make noscruple of gratifying the malice ofindividuals by false accusations ofthe fairest characters amongourselves, augmenting animosityeven to the producing of duels; andare, moreover, so indiscreet as toprint scurrilous reflections on the

government of neighboring states,and even on the conduct of our bestnational allies, which may beattended with the most perniciousconsequences. These things Imention as a caution to youngprinters, and that they may beencouraged not to pollute theirpresses and disgrace theirprofession by such infamouspractices, but refuse steadily, asthey may see by my example thatsuch a course of conduct will not,on the whole, be injurious to their

interests.

In 1733 I sent one of my journeymento Charleston, South Carolina,where a printer was wanting. Ifurnish'd him with a press andletters, on an agreement ofpartnership, by which I was toreceive one-third of the profits ofthe business, paying one-third of theexpense. He was a man of learning,and honest but ignorant in matters ofaccount; and, tho' he sometimesmade me remittances, I could get noaccount from him, nor any

satisfactory state of our partnershipwhile he lived. On his decease, thebusiness was continued by hiswidow, who, being born and bredin Holland, where, as I have beeninform'd, the knowledge of accountsmakes a part of female education,she not only sent me as clear a stateas she could find of the transactionspast, but continued to account withthe greatest regularity and exactnessevery quarter afterwards, andmanaged the business with suchsuccess, that she not only brought up

reputably a family of children, but,at the expiration of the term, wasable to purchase of me the printing-house, and establish her son in it.

I mention this affair chiefly for thesake of recommending that branchof education for our young females,as likely to be of more use to themand their children, in case ofwidowhood, than either music ordancing, by preserving them fromlosses by imposition of crafty men,and enabling them to continue,perhaps, a profitable mercantile

house, with establish'dcorrespondence, till a son is grownup fit to undertake and go on with it,to the lasting advantage andenriching of the family.

About the year 1734 there arrivedamong us from Ireland a youngPresbyterian preacher, namedHemphill, who delivered with agood voice, and apparentlyextempore, most excellentdiscourses, which drew togetherconsiderable numbers of differentpersuasions, who join'd in admiring

them. Among the rest, I became oneof his constant hearers, his sermonspleasing me, as they had little of thedogmatical kind, but inculcatedstrongly the practice of virtue, orwhat in the religious stile are calledgood works. Those, however, of ourcongregation, who consideredthemselves as orthodoxPresbyterians, disapprov'd hisdoctrine, and were join'd by most ofthe old clergy, who arraign'd him ofheterodoxy before the synod, inorder to have him silenc'd. I became

his zealous partisan, andcontributed all I could to raise aparty in his favour, and wecombated for him awhile with somehopes of success. There was muchscribbling pro and con upon theoccasion; and finding that, tho' anelegant preacher, he was but a poorwriter, I lent him my pen and wrotefor him two or three pamphlets, andone piece in the Gazette of April,1735. Those pamphlets, as isgenerally the case withcontroversial writings, tho' eagerly

read at the time, were soon out ofvogue, and I question whether asingle copy of them now exists.[76]

During the contest an unluckyoccurrence hurt his causeexceedingly. One of our adversarieshaving heard him preach a sermonthat was much admired, thought hehad somewhere read the sermonbefore, or at least a part of it. Onsearch, he found that part quoted atlength, in one of the BritishReviews, from a discourse of Dr.

Foster's.[77] This detection gavemany of our party disgust, whoaccordingly abandoned his cause,and occasion'd our more speedydiscomfiture in the synod. I stuck byhim, however, as I rather approv'dhis giving us good sermonscomposed by others, than bad onesof his own manufacture, tho' thelatter was the practice of ourcommon teachers. He afterwardacknowledg'd to me that none ofthose he preach'd were his own;adding, that his memory was such as

enabled him to retain and repeat anysermon after one reading only. Onour defeat, he left us in searchelsewhere of better fortune, and Iquitted the congregation, neverjoining it after, tho' I continu'd manyyears my subscription for thesupport of its ministers.

I had begun in 1733 to studylanguages; I soon made myself somuch a master of the French as to beable to read the books with ease. Ithen undertook the Italian. Anacquaintance, who was also

learning it, us'd often to tempt me toplay chess with him. Finding thistook up too much of the time I had tospare for study, I at length refus'd toplay any more, unless on thiscondition, that the victor in everygame should have a right to imposea task, either in parts of thegrammar to be got by heart, or intranslations, etc., which tasks thevanquish'd was to perform uponhonour, before our next meeting. Aswe play'd pretty equally, we thusbeat one another into that language.

I afterwards with a littlepainstaking, acquir'd as much of theSpanish as to read their books also.

I have already mention'd that I hadonly one year's instruction in a Latinschool, and that when very young,after which I neglected thatlanguage entirely. But, when I hadattained an acquaintance with theFrench, Italian, and Spanish, I wassurpris'd to find, on looking over aLatin Testament, that I understoodso much more of that language than Ihad imagined, which encouraged me

to apply myself again to the study ofit, and I met with more success, asthose preceding languages hadgreatly smooth'd my way.

From these circumstances, I havethought that there is someinconsistency in our common modeof teaching languages. We are toldthat it is proper to begin first withthe Latin, and, having acquir'd that,it will be more easy to attain thosemodern languages which are deriv'dfrom it; and yet we do not beginwith the Greek, in order more easily

to acquire the Latin. It is true that, ifyou can clamber and get to the topof a staircase without using thesteps, you will more easily gainthem in descending; but certainly, ifyou begin with the lowest you willwith more ease ascend to the top;and I would therefore offer it to theconsideration of those whosuperintend the education of ouryouth, whether, since many of thosewho begin with the Latin quit thesame after spending some yearswithout having made any great

proficiency, and what they havelearnt becomes almost useless, sothat their time has been lost, itwould not have been better to havebegun with the French, proceedingto the Italian, etc.; for, tho', afterspending the same time, they shouldquit the study of languages andnever arrive at the Latin, theywould, however, have acquiredanother tongue or two, that, being inmodern use, might be serviceable tothem in common life.[78]

After ten years' absence fromBoston, and having become easy inmy circumstances, I made a journeythither to visit my relations, which Icould not sooner well afford. Inreturning, I call'd at Newport to seemy brother, then settled there withhis printing-house. Our formerdifferences were forgotten, and ourmeeting was very cordial andaffectionate. He was fast decliningin his health, and requested of methat, in case of his death, which heapprehended not far distant, I would

take home his son, then but ten yearsof age, and bring him up to theprinting business. This Iaccordingly perform'd, sending hima few years to school before I tookhim into the office. His mothercarried on the business till he wasgrown up, when I assisted him withan assortment of new types, those ofhis father being in a manner wornout. Thus it was that I made mybrother ample amends for theservice I had depriv'd him of byleaving him so early.

Our former differences wereforgotten, and our meeting was very

cordial and affectionate

In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fineboy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. Ilong regretted bitterly, and stillregret that I had not given it to himby inoculation. This I mention forthe sake of parents who omit thatoperation, on the supposition thatthey should never forgivethemselves if a child died under it;my example showing that the regret

may be the same either way, andthat, therefore, the safer should bechosen.

Our club, the Junto, was found souseful, and afforded suchsatisfaction to the members, thatseveral were desirous ofintroducing their friends, whichcould not well be done withoutexceeding what we had settled as aconvenient number, viz., twelve. Wehad from the beginning made it arule to keep our institution a secret,which was pretty well observ'd; the

intention was to avoid applicationsof improper persons for admittance,some of whom, perhaps, we mightfind it difficult to refuse. I was oneof those who were against anyaddition to our number, but, insteadof it, made in writing a proposal,that every member separatelyshould endeavour to form asubordinate club, with the samerules respecting queries, etc., andwithout informing them of theconnection with the Junto. Theadvantages proposed were, the

improvement of so many moreyoung citizens by the use of ourinstitutions; our better acquaintancewith the general sentiments of theinhabitants on any occasion, as theJunto member might propose whatqueries we should desire, and wasto report to the Junto what pass'd inhis separate club; the promotion ofour particular interests in businessby more extensive recommendation,and the increase of our influence inpublic affairs, and our power ofdoing good by spreading thro' the

several clubs the sentiments of theJunto.

The project was approv'd, andevery member undertook to form hisclub, but they did not all succeed.Five or six only were compleated,which were called by differentnames, as the Vine, the Union, theBand, etc. They were useful tothemselves, and afforded us a gooddeal of amusement, information, andinstruction, besides answering, insome considerable degree, ourviews of influencing the public

opinion on particular occasions, ofwhich I shall give some instances incourse of time as they happened.

My first promotion was my beingchosen, in 1736, clerk of theGeneral Assembly. The choice wasmade that year without opposition;but the year following, when I wasagain propos'd (the choice, like thatof the members, being annual), anew member made a long speechagainst me, in order to favour someother candidate. I was, however,chosen, which was the more

agreeable to me, as, besides the payfor the immediate service as clerk,the place gave me a betteropportunity of keeping up aninterest among the members, whichsecur'd to me the business ofprinting the votes, laws, papermoney, and other occasional jobbsfor the public, that, on the whole,were very profitable.

I therefore did not like theopposition of this new member,who was a gentleman of fortune andeducation, with talents that were

likely to give him, in time, greatinfluence in the House, which,indeed, afterwards happened. I didnot, however, aim at gaining hisfavour by paying any servile respectto him, but, after some time, tookthis other method. Having heard thathe had in his library a certain veryscarce and curious book, I wrote anote to him, expressing my desire ofperusing that book, and requestinghe would do me the favour oflending it to me for a few days. Hesent it immediately, and I return'd it

in about a week with another note,expressing strongly my sense of thefavour. When we next met in theHouse, he spoke to me (which hehad never done before), and withgreat civility; and he ever aftermanifested a readiness to serve meon all occasions, so that we becamegreat friends, and our friendshipcontinued to his death. This isanother instance of the truth of anold maxim I had learned, whichsays, "He that has once done you akindness will be more ready to do

you another, than he whom youyourself have obliged." And itshows how much more profitable itis prudently to remove, than toresent, return, and continue inimicalproceedings.

In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, lategovernor of Virginia, and thenpostmaster-general, beingdissatisfied with the conduct of hisdeputy at Philadelphia, respectingsome negligence in rendering, andinexactitude of his accounts, tookfrom him the commission and

offered it to me. I accepted itreadily, and found it of greatadvantage; for, tho' the salary wassmall, it facilitated thecorrespondence that improv'd mynewspaper, increas'd the numberdemanded, as well as theadvertisements to be inserted, sothat it came to afford me aconsiderable income. My oldcompetitor's newspaper declin'dproportionately, and I was satisfy'dwithout retaliating his refusal, whilepostmaster, to permit my papers

being carried by the riders. Thus hesuffer'd greatly from his neglect indue accounting; and I mention it as alesson to those young men who maybe employ'd in managing affairs forothers, that they should alwaysrender accounts, and makeremittances, with great clearnessand punctuality. The character ofobserving such a conduct is themost powerful of allrecommendations to newemployments and increase ofbusiness.

[74] The almanac at that timewas a kind of periodical as wellas a guide to naturalphenomena and the weather.Franklin took his title fromPoor Robin, a famous Englishalmanac, and from RichardSaunders, a well-knownalmanac publisher. For themaxims of Poor Richard, seepages 331-335.

[75] June 23 and July 7, 1730.—Smyth.

[76] See "A List of Bookswritten by, or relating to

Benjamin Franklin," by PaulLeicester Ford. 1889. p. 15.—Smyth.

[77] Dr. James Foster (1697-1753):—

"Let modest Foster, ifhe will excel

Ten metropolitans inpreaching well."

—Pope (Epilogue tothe Satires, I, 132).

"Those who had not heardFarinelli sing and Foster preach

were not qualified to appear ingenteel company," Hawkins."History of Music."—Smyth.

[78] "The authority of Franklin,the most eminently practicalman of his age, in favor ofreserving the study of the deadlanguages until the mind hasreached a certain maturity, isconfirmed by the confession ofone of the most eminentscholars of any age.

"'Our seminaries of learning,'says Gibbon, 'do not exactlycorrespond with the precept of

a Spartan king, that the childshould be instructed in the artswhich will be useful to theman; since a finished scholarmay emerge from the head ofWestminster or Eton, in totalignorance of the business andconversation of Englishgentlemen in the latter end ofthe eighteenth century. Butthese schools may assume themerit of teaching all that theypretend to teach, the Latin andGreek languages.'"—Bigelow.

XI

INTEREST IN PUBLICAFFAIRS

block-IBEGAN now to turn mythoughts a little to public affairs,beginning, however, with smallmatters. The city watch was one ofthe first things that I conceiv'd towant regulation. It was managed bythe constables of the respectivewards in turn; the constable warneda number of housekeepers to attend

him for the night. Those who chosenever to attend, paid him sixshillings a year to be excus'd, whichwas suppos'd to be for hiringsubstitutes, but was, in reality, muchmore than was necessary for thatpurpose, and made theconstableship a place of profit; andthe constable, for a little drink,often got such ragamuffins abouthim as a watch, that respectablehousekeepers did not choose to mixwith. Walking the rounds, too, wasoften neglected, and most of the

nights spent in tippling. I thereuponwrote a paper to be read in Junto,representing these irregularities, butinsisting more particularly on theinequality of this six-shilling tax ofthe constables, respecting thecircumstances of those who paid it,since a poor widow housekeeper,all whose property to be guarded bythe watch did not perhaps exceedthe value of fifty pounds, paid asmuch as the wealthiest merchant,who had thousands of pounds' worthof goods in his stores.

On the whole, I proposed as a moreeffectual watch, the hiring of propermen to serve constantly in thatbusiness; and as a more equitableway of supporting the charge, thelevying a tax that should beproportion'd to the property. Thisidea, being approv'd by the Junto,was communicated to the otherclubs, but as arising in each of them;and though the plan was notimmediately carried into execution,yet, by preparing the minds ofpeople for the change, it paved the

way for the law obtained a fewyears after, when the members ofour clubs were grown into moreinfluence.

About this time I wrote a paper(first to be read in Junto, but it wasafterward publish'd) on the differentaccidents and carelessnesses bywhich houses were set on fire, withcautions against them, and meansproposed of avoiding them. Thiswas much spoken of as a usefulpiece, and gave rise to a project,which soon followed it, of forming

a company for the more readyextinguishing of fires, and mutualassistance in removing and securingof goods when in danger.Associates in this scheme werepresently found, amounting to thirty.Our articles of agreement oblig'devery member to keep always ingood order, and fit for use, a certainnumber of leather buckets, withstrong bags and baskets (for packingand transporting of goods), whichwere to be brought to every fire;and we agreed to meet once a month

and spend a social evening together,in discoursing and communicatingsuch ideas as occurred to us uponthe subjects of fires, as might beuseful in our conduct on suchoccasions.

The utility of this institution soonappeared, and many more desiringto be admitted than we thoughtconvenient for one company, theywere advised to form another,which was accordingly done; andthis went on, one new companybeing formed after another, till they

became so numerous as to includemost of the inhabitants who weremen of property; and now, at thetime of my writing this, tho' upwardof fifty years since itsestablishment, that which I firstformed, called the Union FireCompany, still subsists andflourishes, tho' the first membersare all deceas'd but myself and one,who is older by a year than I am.The small fines that have been paidby members for absence at themonthly meetings have been apply'd

to the purchase of fire-engines,ladders, fire-hooks, and other usefulimplements for each company, sothat I question whether there is acity in the world better providedwith the means of putting a stop tobeginning conflagrations; and, infact, since these institutions, the cityhas never lost by fire more than oneor two houses at a time, and theflames have often been extinguishedbefore the house in which theybegan has been half consumed.

the flames have often been

extinguished

In 1739 arrived among us fromIreland the Reverend Mr.Whitefield,[79] who had madehimself remarkable there as anitinerant preacher. He was at firstpermitted to preach in some of ourchurches; but the clergy, taking adislike to him, soon refus'd himtheir pulpits, and he was oblig'd topreach in the fields. The multitudesof all sects and denominations thatattended his sermons were

enormous, and it was matter ofspeculation to me, who was one ofthe number, to observe theextraordinary influence of hisoratory on his hearers, and howmuch they admir'd and respectedhim, notwithstanding his commonabuse of them, by assuring them theywere naturally half beasts and halfdevils. It was wonderful to see thechange soon made in the manners ofour inhabitants. From beingthoughtless or indifferent aboutreligion, it seem'd as if all the

world were growing religious, sothat one could not walk thro' thetown in an evening without hearingpsalms sung in different families ofevery street.

And it being found inconvenient toassemble in the open air, subject toits inclemencies, the building of ahouse to meet in was no soonerpropos'd, and persons appointed toreceive contributions, but sufficientsums were soon receiv'd to procurethe ground and erect the building,which was one hundred feet long

and seventy broad, about the size ofWestminster Hall;[80] and the workwas carried on with such spirit asto be finished in a much shorter timethan could have been expected.Both house and ground were vestedin trustees, expressly for the use ofany preacher of any religiouspersuasion who might desire to saysomething to the people atPhiladelphia; the design in buildingnot being to accommodate anyparticular sect, but the inhabitants ingeneral; so that even if the Mufti of

Constantinople were to send amissionary to preachMohammedanism to us, he wouldfind a pulpit at his service.

Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, wentpreaching all the way thro' thecolonies to Georgia. The settlementof that province had lately beenbegun, but, instead of being madewith hardy, industrious husbandmen,accustomed to labour, the onlypeople fit for such an enterprise, itwas with families of broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors,

many of indolent and idle habits,taken out of the jails, who, being setdown in the woods, unqualified forclearing land, and unable to endurethe hardships of a new settlement,perished in numbers, leaving manyhelpless children unprovided for.The sight of their miserablesituation inspir'd the benevolentheart of Mr. Whitefield with theidea of building an Orphan Housethere, in which they might besupported and educated. Returningnorthward, he preach'd up this

charity, and made large collections,for his eloquence had a wonderfulpower over the hearts and purses ofhis hearers, of which I myself wasan instance.

I did not disapprove of the design,but, as Georgia was then destitute ofmaterials and workmen, and it wasproposed to send them fromPhiladelphia at a great expense, Ithought it would have been better tohave built the house here, andbrought the children to it. This Iadvis'd; but he was resolute in his

first project, rejected my counsel,and I therefore refus'd to contribute.I happened soon after to attend oneof his sermons, in the course ofwhich I perceived he intended tofinish with a collection, and Isilently resolved he should getnothing from me. I had in my pocketa handful of copper money, three orfour silver dollars, and five pistolesin gold. As he proceeded I began tosoften, and concluded to give thecoppers. Another stroke of hisoratory made me asham'd of that,

and determin'd me to give thesilver; and he finish'd so admirably,that I empty'd my pocket wholly intothe collector's dish, gold and all. Atthis sermon there was also one ofour club, who, being of mysentiments respecting the building inGeorgia, and suspecting acollection might be intended, had,by precaution, emptied his pocketsbefore he came from home.Towards the conclusion of thediscourse, however, he felt a strongdesire to give, and apply'd to a

neighbour who stood near him, toborrow some money for thepurpose. The application wasunfortunately [made] to perhaps theonly man in the company who hadthe firmness not to be affected bythe preacher. His answer was, "Atany other time, Friend Hopkinson,I would lend to thee freely; but notnow, for thee seems to be out of thyright senses."

Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemiesaffected to suppose that he wouldapply these collections to his own

private emolument; but I, who wasintimately acquainted with him(being employed in printing hisSermons and Journals, etc.), neverhad the least suspicion of hisintegrity, but am to this daydecidedly of opinion that he was inall his conduct a perfectly honestman; and methinks my testimony inhis favour ought to have the moreweight, as we had no religiousconnection. He us'd, indeed,sometimes to pray for myconversion, but never had the

satisfaction of believing that hisprayers were heard. Ours was amere civil friendship, sincere onboth sides, and lasted to his death.

The following instance will showsomething of the terms on which westood. Upon one of his arrivals fromEngland at Boston, he wrote to methat he should come soon toPhiladelphia, but knew not wherehe could lodge when there, as heunderstood his old friend and host,Mr. Benezet was removed toGermantown. My answer was, "You

know my house; if you can makeshift with its scantyaccommodations, you will be mostheartily welcome." He reply'd, thatif I made that kind offer for Christ'ssake, I should not miss of a reward.And I returned, "Don't let me bemistaken; it was not for Christ'ssake, but for your sake." One of ourcommon acquaintance jocoselyremark'd, that, knowing it to be thecustom of the saints, when theyreceived any favour, to shift theburden of the obligation from off

their own shoulders, and place it inheaven, I had contriv'd to fix it onearth.

The last time I saw Mr. Whitefieldwas in London, when he consultedme about his Orphan Houseconcern, and his purpose ofappropriating it to the establishmentof a college.

He had a loud and clear voice, andarticulated his words and sentencesso perfectly, that he might be heardand understood at a great distance,

especially as his auditories,however numerous, observ'd themost exact silence. He preach'd oneevening from the top of theCourthouse steps, which are in themiddle of Market-street, and on thewest side of Second-street, whichcrosses it at right angles. Bothstreets were fill'd with his hearersto a considerable distance. Beingamong the hindmost in Market-street, I had the curiosity to learnhow far he could be heard, byretiring backwards down the street

towards the river; and I found hisvoice distinct till I came near Front-street, when some noise in thatstreet obscur'd it. Imagining then asemicircle, of which my distanceshould be the radius, and that itwere fill'd with auditors, to each ofwhom I allow'd two square feet, Icomputed that he might well beheard by more than thirty thousand.This reconcil'd me to the newspaperaccounts of his having preach'd totwenty-five thousand people in thefields, and to the ancient histories of

generals haranguing whole armies,of which I had sometimes doubted.

By hearing him often, I came todistinguish easily between sermonsnewly compos'd, and those whichhe had often preach'd in the courseof his travels. His delivery of thelatter was so improv'd by frequentrepetitions that every accent, everyemphasis, every modulation ofvoice, was so perfectly well turn'dand well plac'd, that, without beinginterested in the subject, one couldnot help being pleas'd with the

discourse; a pleasure of much thesame kind with that receiv'd from anexcellent piece of musick. This isan advantage itinerant preachershave over those who are stationary,as the latter cannot well improvetheir delivery of a sermon by somany rehearsals.

His writing and printing from timeto time gave great advantage to hisenemies; unguarded expressions,and even erroneous opinions,delivered in preaching, might havebeen afterwards explain'd or

qualifi'd by supposing others thatmight have accompani'd them, orthey might have been deny'd; butlitera scripta manet. Criticsattack'd his writings violently, andwith so much appearance of reasonas to diminish the number of hisvotaries and prevent their increase;so that I am of opinion if he hadnever written anything, he wouldhave left behind him a much morenumerous and important sect, andhis reputation might in that casehave been still growing, even after

his death, as there being nothing ofhis writing on which to found acensure and give him a lowercharacter, his proselytes would beleft at liberty to feign for him asgreat a variety of excellences astheir enthusiastic admiration mightwish him to have possessed.

My business was now continuallyaugmenting, and my circumstancesgrowing daily easier, my newspaperhaving become very profitable, asbeing for a time almost the only onein this and the neighbouring

provinces. I experienced, too, thetruth of the observation, "that aftergetting the first hundred pound, itis more easy to get the second,"money itself being of a prolificnature.

The partnership at Carolina havingsucceeded, I was encourag'd toengage in others, and to promoteseveral of my workmen, who hadbehaved well, by establishing themwith printing-houses in differentcolonies, on the same terms withthat in Carolina. Most of them did

well, being enabled at the end ofour term, six years, to purchase thetypes of me and go on working forthemselves, by which means severalfamilies were raised. Partnershipsoften finish in quarrels; but I washappy in this, that mine were allcarried on and ended amicably,owing, I think, a good deal to theprecaution of having very explicitlysettled, in our articles, everything tobe done by or expected from eachpartner, so that there was nothing todispute, which precaution I would

therefore recommend to all whoenter into partnerships; for,whatever esteem partners may havefor, and confidence in each other atthe time of the contract, littlejealousies and disgusts may arise,with ideas of inequality in the careand burden of the business, etc.,which are attended often withbreach of friendship and of theconnection, perhaps with lawsuitsand other disagreeableconsequences.

[79] George Whitefield,pronounced Hwit'field (1714-1770), a celebrated Englishclergyman and pulpit orator,one of the founders ofMethodism.

[80] A part of the palace ofWestminster, now forming thevestibule to the Houses ofParliament in London.

XII

DEFENSE OF THE PROVINCE

block-IHAD, on the whole,abundant reason to be satisfied withmy being established inPennsylvania. There were,however, two, things that Iregretted, there being no provisionfor defense, nor for a compleateducation of youth; no militia, norany college. I therefore, in 1743,drew up a proposal for establishingan academy; and at that time,thinking the Reverend Mr. Peters,

who was out of employ, a fit personto superintend such an institution, Icommunicated the project to him;but he, having more profitableviews in the service of theproprietaries, which succeeded,declin'd the undertaking; and, notknowing another at that timesuitable for such a trust, I let thescheme lie awhile dormant. Isucceeded better the next year,1744, in proposing and establishinga Philosophical Society. The paperI wrote for that purpose will be

found among my writings, whencollected.

With respect to defense, Spainhaving been several years at waragainst Great Britain, and being atlength join'd by France, whichbrought us into great danger; and thelaboured and long-continuedendeavour of our governor, Thomas,to prevail with our QuakerAssembly to pass a militia law, andmake other provisions for thesecurity of the province, havingproved abortive, I determined to try

what might be done by a voluntaryassociation of the people. Topromote this, I first wrote andpublished a pamphlet, entitledPLAIN TRUTH, in which I stated ourdefenceless situation in stronglights, with the necessity of unionand discipline for our defense, andpromis'd to propose in a few daysan association, to be generallysigned for that purpose. Thepamphlet had a sudden andsurprising effect. I was call'd uponfor the instrument of association,

and having settled the draft of itwith a few friends, I appointed ameeting of the citizens in the largebuilding before mentioned. Thehouse was pretty full; I hadprepared a number of printedcopies, and provided pens and inkdispers'd all over the room. Iharangued them a little on thesubject, read the paper, andexplained it, and then distributed thecopies, which were eagerly signed,not the least objection being made.

When the company separated, and

the papers were collected, wefound above twelve hundred hands;and, other copies being dispersed inthe country, the subscribersamounted at length to upward of tenthousand. These all furnishedthemselves as soon as they couldwith arms, formed themselves intocompanies and regiments, chosetheir own officers, and met everyweek to be instructed in the manualexercise, and other parts of militarydiscipline. The women, bysubscriptions among themselves,

provided silk colours, which theypresented to the companies, paintedwith different devices and mottos,which I supplied.

One of the flags of the PennsylvaniaAssociation, 1747. Designed by

Franklin and made by the women ofPhiladelphia.

One of the flags of thePennsylvania Association,

1747. Designed by Franklinand made by the women of

Philadelphia.

The officers of the companiescomposing the Philadelphiaregiment, being met, chose me fortheir colonel; but, conceivingmyself unfit, I declin'd that station,and recommended Mr. Lawrence, afine person, and man of influence,who was accordingly appointed. Ithen propos'd a lottery to defray theexpense of building a battery belowthe town, and furnishing it withcannon. It filled expeditiously, andthe battery was soon erected, themerlons being fram'd of logs and

fill'd with earth. We bought someold cannon from Boston, but, thesenot being sufficient, we wrote toEngland for more, soliciting, at thesame time, our proprietaries forsome assistance, tho' without muchexpectation of obtaining it.

Meanwhile, Colonel Lawrence,William Allen, Abram Taylor,Esqr., and myself were sent to NewYork by the associators,commission'd to borrow somecannon of Governor Clinton. He atfirst refus'd us peremptorily; but at

dinner with his council, where therewas great drinking of Madeirawine, as the custom of that placethen was, he softened by degrees,and said he would lend us six. Aftera few more bumpers he advanc'd toten; and at length he very good-naturedly conceded eighteen. Theywere fine cannon, eighteen-pounders, with their carriages,which we soon transported andmounted on our battery, where theassociators kept a nightly guardwhile the war lasted, and among the

rest I regularly took my turn of dutythere as a common soldier.

I regularly took my turn of dutythere as a common soldier

"I regularly took my turn ofduty there as a common

soldier"

My activity in these operations wasagreeable to the governor andcouncil; they took me intoconfidence, and I was consulted bythem in every measure wherein theirconcurrence was thought useful to

the association. Calling in the aid ofreligion, I propos'd to them theproclaiming a fast, to promotereformation, and implore theblessing of Heaven on ourundertaking. They embrac'd themotion; but, as it was the first fastever thought of in the province, thesecretary had no precedent fromwhich to draw the proclamation.My education in New England,where a fast is proclaimed everyyear, was here of some advantage: Idrew it in the accustomed stile, it

was translated into German,[81]

printed in both languages, anddivulg'd thro' the province. Thisgave the clergy of the different sectsan opportunity of influencing theircongregations to join in theassociation, and it would probablyhave been general among all butQuakers if the peace had not sooninterven'd.

It was thought by some of myfriends that, by my activity in theseaffairs, I should offend that sect, and

thereby lose my interest in theAssembly of the province, wherethey formed a great majority. Ayoung gentleman who had likewisesome friends in the House, andwished to succeed me as their clerk,acquainted me that it was decidedto displace me at the next election;and he, therefore, in good will,advis'd me to resign, as moreconsistent with my honour thanbeing turn'd out. My answer to himwas, that I had read or heard ofsome public man who made it a rule

never to ask for an office, and neverto refuse one when offer'd to him. "Iapprove," says I, "of his rule, andwill practice it with a smalladdition; I shall never ask, neverrefuse, nor ever resign an office. Ifthey will have my office of clerk todispose of to another, they shall takeit from me. I will not, by giving itup, lose my right of some time orother making reprisals on myadversaries." I heard, however, nomore of this; I was chosen againunanimously as usual at the next

election. Possibly, as they dislik'dmy late intimacy with the membersof council, who had join'd thegovernors in all the disputes aboutmilitary preparations, with whichthe House had long been harass'd,they might have been pleas'd if Iwould voluntarily have left them;but they did not care to displace meon account merely of my zeal for theassociation, and they could not wellgive another reason.

Indeed I had some cause to believethat the defense of the country was

not disagreeable to any of them,provided they were not requir'd toassist in it. And I found that a muchgreater number of them than I couldhave imagined, tho' againstoffensive war, were clearly for thedefensive. Many pamphlets pro andcon were publish'd on the subject,and some by good Quakers, infavour of defense, which I believeconvinc'd most of their youngerpeople.

A transaction in our fire companygave me some insight into their

prevailing sentiments. It had beenpropos'd that we should encouragethe scheme for building a battery bylaying out the present stock, thenabout sixty pounds, in tickets of thelottery. By our rules, no moneycould be dispos'd of till the nextmeeting after the proposal. Thecompany consisted of thirtymembers, of which twenty-twowere Quakers, and eight only ofother persuasions. We eightpunctually attended the meeting; but,tho' we thought that some of the

Quakers would join us, we were byno means sure of a majority. Onlyone Quaker, Mr. James Morris,appear'd to oppose the measure. Heexpressed much sorrow that it hadever been propos'd, as he saidFriends were all against it, and itwould create such discord as mightbreak up the company. We told himthat we saw no reason for that; wewere the minority, and if Friendswere against the measure, andoutvoted us, we must and should,agreeably to the usage of all

societies, submit. When the hour forbusiness arriv'd it was mov'd to putthe vote; he allow'd we might thendo it by the rules, but, as he couldassure us that a number of membersintended to be present for thepurpose of opposing it, it would bebut candid to allow a little time fortheir appearing.

While we were disputing this, awaiter came to tell me twogentlemen below desir'd to speakwith me. I went down, and foundthey were two of our Quaker

members. They told me there wereeight of them assembled at a tavernjust by; that they were determin'd tocome and vote with us if thereshould be occasion, which theyhop'd would not be the case, anddesir'd we would not call for theirassistance if we could do without it,as their voting for such a measuremight embroil them with theirelders and friends. Being thussecure of a majority, I went up, andafter a little seeming hesitation,agreed to a delay of another hour.

This Mr. Morris allow'd to beextreamly fair. Not one of hisopposing friends appear'd, at whichhe express'd great surprize; and, atthe expiration of the hour, wecarri'd the resolution eight to one;and as, of the twenty-two Quakers,eight were ready to vote with us,and thirteen, by their absence,manifested that they were notinclin'd to oppose the measure, Iafterward estimated the proportionof Quakers sincerely againstdefense as one to twenty-one only;

for these were all regular membersof that society, and in goodreputation among them, and had duenotice of what was propos'd at thatmeeting.

The honorable and learned Mr.Logan, who had always been of thatsect, was one who wrote an addressto them, declaring his approbationof defensive war, and supporting hisopinion by many strong arguments.He put into my hands sixty poundsto be laid out in lottery tickets forthe battery, with directions to apply

what prizes might be drawn whollyto that service. He told me thefollowing anecdote of his oldmaster, William Penn, respectingdefense. He came over fromEngland, when a young man, withthat proprietary, and as hissecretary. It was war-time, and theirship was chas'd by an armed vessel,suppos'd to be an enemy. Theircaptain prepar'd for defense; buttold William Penn, and his companyof Quakers, that he did not expecttheir assistance, and they might

retire into the cabin, which they did,except James Logan,[82] who choseto stay upon deck, and was quarter'dto a gun. The suppos'd enemy prov'da friend, so there was no fighting;but when the secretary went downto communicate the intelligence,William Penn rebuk'd him severelyfor staying upon deck, andundertaking to assist in defendingthe vessel, contrary to the principlesof Friends, especially as it had notbeen required by the captain. Thisreproof, being before all the

company, piqu'd the secretary, whoanswer'd, "I being thy servant, whydid thee not order me to comedown? But thee was willingenough that I should stay and helpto fight the ship when thee thoughtthere was danger."

My being many years in theAssembly, the majority of whichwere constantly Quakers, gave mefrequent opportunities of seeing theembarrassment given them by theirprinciple against war, wheneverapplication was made to them, by

order of the crown, to grant aids formilitary purposes. They wereunwilling to offend government, onthe one hand, by a direct refusal;and their friends, the body of theQuakers, on the other, bycompliance contrary to theirprinciples; hence a variety ofevasions to avoid complying, andmodes of disguising the compliancewhen it became unavoidable. Thecommon mode at last was, to grantmoney under the phrase of its being"for the king's use," and never to

inquire how it was applied.

But, if the demand was not directlyfrom the crown, that phrase wasfound not so proper, and some otherwas to be invented. As, whenpowder was wanting (I think it wasfor the garrison at Louisburg), andthe government of New Englandsolicited a grant of some fromPennsylvania, which was muchurg'd on the House by GovernorThomas, they could not grant moneyto buy powder, because that was aningredient of war; but they voted an

aid to New England of threethousand pounds, to be put into thehands of the governor, andappropriated it for the purchasing ofbread, flour, wheat or other grain.Some of the council, desirous ofgiving the House still furtherembarrassment, advis'd thegovernor not to accept provision, asnot being the thing he haddemanded; but he repli'd, "I shalltake the money, for I understandvery well their meaning; other grainis gunpowder," which he

accordingly bought, and they neverobjected to it.[83]

It was in allusion to this fact that,when in our fire company we fearedthe success of our proposal infavour of the lottery, and I had saidto my friend Mr. Syng, one of ourmembers, "If we fail, let us movethe purchase of a fire-engine withthe money; the Quakers can have noobjection to that; and then, if younominate me and I you as acommittee for that purpose, we will

buy a great gun, which is certainly afire-engine." "I see," says he, "youhave improv'd by being so long inthe Assembly; your equivocalproject would be just a match fortheir wheat or other grain."

These embarrassments that theQuakers suffer'd from havingestablish'd and published it as oneof their principles that no kind ofwar was lawful, and which, beingonce published, they could notafterwards, however they mightchange their minds, easily get rid of,

reminds me of what I think a moreprudent conduct in another sectamong us, that of the Dunkers. I wasacquainted with one of its founders,Michael Welfare, soon after itappear'd. He complain'd to me thatthey were grievously calumniatedby the zealots of other persuasions,and charg'd with abominableprinciples and practices to whichthey were utter strangers. I told himthis had always been the case withnew sects, and that, to put a stop tosuch abuse, I imagin'd it might be

well to publish the articles of theirbelief, and the rules of theirdiscipline. He said that it had beenpropos'd among them, but notagreed to, for this reason: "Whenwe were first drawn together as asociety," says he, "it had pleasedGod to enlighten our minds so far asto see that some doctrines, whichwe once esteemed truths, wereerrors; and that others, which wehad esteemed errors, were realtruths. >From time to time He hasbeen pleased to afford us farther

light, and our principles have beenimproving, and our errorsdiminishing. Now we are not surethat we are arrived at the end of thisprogression, and at the perfection ofspiritual or theological knowledge;and we fear that, if we should onceprint our confession of faith, weshould feel ourselves as if boundand confin'd by it, and perhaps beunwilling to receive furtherimprovement, and our successorsstill more so, as conceiving whatwe their elders and founders had

done, to be something sacred, neverto be departed from."

This modesty in a sect is perhaps asingular instance in the history ofmankind, every other sect supposingitself in possession of all truth, andthat those who differ are so far inthe wrong; like a man traveling infoggy weather, those at somedistance before him on the road hesees wrapped up in the fog, as wellas those behind him, and also thepeople in the fields on each side,but near him all appears clear, tho'

in truth he is as much in the fog asany of them. To avoid this kind ofembarrassment, the Quakers have oflate years been gradually decliningthe public service in the Assemblyand in the magistracy, choosingrather to quit their power than theirprinciple.

In order of time, I should havementioned before, that having, in1742, invented an open stove[84]

for the better warming of rooms,and at the same time saving fuel, as

the fresh air admitted was warmedin entering, I made a present of themodel to Mr. Robert Grace, one ofmy early friends, who, having aniron-furnace,[85] found the castingof the plates for these stoves aprofitable thing, as they weregrowing in demand. To promote thatdemand, I wrote and published apamphlet, entitled "An Account ofthe new-invented PennsylvaniaFireplaces; wherein theirConstruction and Manner ofOperation is particularly

explained; their Advantages aboveevery other Method of warmingRooms demonstrated; and allObjections that have been raisedagainst the Use of them answeredand obviated," etc. This pamphlethad a good effect. Gov'r. Thomaswas so pleas'd with the constructionof this stove, as described in it, thathe offered to give me a patent forthe sole vending of them for a termof years; but I declin'd it from aprinciple which has ever weighedwith me on such occasions, viz.,

That, as we enjoy great advantagesfrom the inventions of others, weshould be glad of an opportunity toserve others by any invention ofours; and this we should do freelyand generously.

An ironmonger in London however,assuming a good deal of mypamphlet, and working it up into hisown, and making some smallchanges in the machine, whichrather hurt its operation, got a patentfor it there, and made, as I was told,a little fortune by it. And this is not

the only instance of patents takenout for my inventions by others, tho'not always with the same success,which I never contested, as havingno desire of profiting by patentsmyself, and hating disputes. The useof these fireplaces in very manyhouses, both of this and theneighbouring colonies, has been,and is, a great saving of wood to theinhabitants.

[81] Wm. Penn's agents soughtrecruits for the colony ofPennsylvania in the low

countries of Germany, andthere are still in easternPennsylvania many Germans,inaccurately calledPennsylvania Dutch. Many ofthem use a GermanizedEnglish.

[82] James Logan (1674-1751)came to America with WilliamPenn in 1699, and was thebusiness agent for the Pennfamily. He bequeathed hisvaluable library, preserved athis country seat, "Senton," tothe city of Philadelphia.—Smyth.

[83] See the votes.—Marg.note.

[84] The Franklin stove is still inuse.

[85] Warwick Furnace, ChesterCounty, Pennsylvania, acrossthe Schuylkill River fromPottstown.

XIII

PUBLIC SERVICES AND

DUTIES(1749-1753)

block-PEACE being concluded, andthe association business therefore atan end, I turn'd my thoughts again tothe affair of establishing anacademy. The first step I took wasto associate in the design a numberof active friends, of whom the Juntofurnished a good part; the next wasto write and publish a pamphlet,entitled Proposals Relating to theEducation of Youth inPennsylvania. This I distributed

among the principal inhabitantsgratis; and as soon as I couldsuppose their minds a littleprepared by the perusal of it, I seton foot a subscription for openingand supporting an academy; it wasto be paid in quotas yearly for fiveyears; by so dividing it, I judg'd thesubscription might be larger, and Ibelieve it was so, amounting to noless, if I remember right, than fivethousand pounds.

In the introduction to theseproposals, I stated their publication,

not as an act of mine, but of somepublick-spirited gentlemen,avoiding as much as I could,according to my usual rule, thepresenting myself to the publick asthe author of any scheme for theirbenefit.

The subscribers, to carry the projectinto immediate execution, chose outof their number twenty-four trustees,and appointed Mr. Francis,[86] thenattorney-general, and myself todraw up constitutions for the

government of the academy; whichbeing done and signed, a house washired, masters engag'd, and theschools opened, I think, in the sameyear, 1749.

The scholars increasing fast, thehouse was soon found too small,and we were looking out for a pieceof ground, properly situated, withintention to build, when Providencethrew into our way a large houseready built, which, with a fewalterations, might well serve ourpurpose. This was the building

before mentioned, erected by thehearers of Mr. Whitefield, and wasobtained for us in the followingmanner.

It is to be noted that thecontributions to this building beingmade by people of different sects,care was taken in the nomination oftrustees, in whom the building andground was to be vested, that apredominancy should not be givento any sect, lest in time thatpredominancy might be a means ofappropriating the whole to the use

of such sect, contrary to the originalintention. It was therefore that oneof each sect was appointed, viz.,one Church-of-England man, onePresbyterian, one Baptist, oneMoravian, etc., those, in case ofvacancy by death, were to fill it byelection from among thecontributors. The Moravianhappen'd not to please hiscolleagues, and on his death theyresolved to have no other of thatsect. The difficulty then was, how toavoid having two of some other

sect, by means of the new choice.

Several persons were named, andfor that reason not agreed to. Atlength one mention'd me, with theobservation that I was merely anhonest man, and of no sect at all,which prevailed with them to chuseme. The enthusiasm which existedwhen the house was built had longsince abat'd, and its trustees had notbeen able to procure freshcontributions for paying the ground-rent, and discharging some otherdebts the building had occasion'd,

which embarrass'd them greatly.Being now a member of both sets oftrustees, that for the building andthat for the academy, I had a goodopportunity of negotiating with both,and brought them finally to anagreement, by which the trustees forthe building were to cede it to thoseof the academy, the latterundertaking to discharge the debt, tokeep forever open in the building alarge hall for occasional preachers,according to the original intention,and maintain a free-school for the

instruction of poor children.Writings were accordingly drawn,and on paying the debts the trusteesof the academy were put inpossession of the premises; and bydividing the great and lofty hall intostories, and different rooms aboveand below for the several schools,and purchasing some additionalground, the whole was soon madefit for our purpose, and the scholarsremov'd into the building. The careand trouble of agreeing with theworkmen, purchasing materials, and

superintending the work, fell uponme; and I went thro' it the morecheerfully, as it did not theninterfere with my private business,having the year before taken a veryable, industrious, and honestpartner, Mr. David Hall, withwhose character I was wellacquainted, as he had work'd for mefour years. He took off my hands allcare of the printing-office, payingme punctually my share of theprofits. The partnership continuedeighteen years, successfully for us

both.

The trustees of the academy, after awhile, were incorporated by acharter from the governor; theirfunds were increas'd bycontributions in Britain and grantsof land from the proprietaries, towhich the Assembly has since madeconsiderable addition; and thus wasestablished the present Universityof Philadelphia.[87] I have beencontinued one of its trustees fromthe beginning, now near forty years,

and have had the very greatpleasure of seeing a number of theyouth who have receiv'd theireducation in it, distinguish'd by theirimprov'd abilities, serviceable inpublic stations, and ornaments totheir country.

When I disengaged myself, as abovementioned, from private business, Iflatter'd myself that, by the sufficienttho' moderate fortune I had acquir'd,I had secured leisure during the restof my life for philosophical studiesand amusements. I purchased all Dr.

Spence's apparatus, who had comefrom England to lecture here, and Iproceeded in my electricalexperiments with great alacrity; butthe publick, now considering me asa man of leisure, laid hold of me fortheir purposes, every part of ourcivil government, and almost at thesame time, imposing some dutyupon me. The governor put me intothe commission of the peace; thecorporation of the city chose me ofthe common council, and soon afteran alderman; and the citizens at

large chose me a burgess torepresent them in Assembly. Thislatter station was the moreagreeable to me, as I was at lengthtired with sitting there to heardebates, in which, as clerk, I couldtake no part, and which were oftenso unentertaining that I was induc'dto amuse myself with making magicsquares or circles, or anything toavoid weariness; and I conceiv'dmy becoming a member wouldenlarge my power of doing good. Iwould not, however, insinuate that

my ambition was not flatter'd by allthese promotions; it certainly was;for, considering my low beginning,they were great things to me; andthey were still more pleasing, asbeing so many spontaneoustestimonies of the public goodopinion, and by me entirelyunsolicited.

The office of justice of the peace Itry'd a little, by attending a fewcourts, and sitting on the bench tohear causes; but finding that moreknowledge of the common law than

I possess'd was necessary to act inthat station with credit, I graduallywithdrew from it, excusing myselfby my being oblig'd to attend thehigher duties of a legislator in theAssembly. My election to this trustwas repeated every year for tenyears, without my ever asking anyelector for his vote, or signifying,either directly or indirectly, anydesire of being chosen. On takingmy seat in the House, my son wasappointed their clerk.

The year following, a treaty being

to be held with the Indians atCarlisle, the governor sent amessage to the House, proposingthat they should nominate some oftheir members, to be join'd withsome members of council, ascommissioners for that purpose.[88]

The House named the speaker (Mr.Norris) and myself; and, beingcommission'd, we went to Carlisle,and met the Indians accordingly.

As those people are extreamly aptto get drunk, and, when so, are very

quarrelsome and disorderly, westrictly forbad the selling any liquorto them; and when they complain'dof this restriction, we told them thatif they would continue sober duringthe treaty, we would give themplenty of rum when business wasover. They promis'd this, and theykept their promise, because theycould get no liquor, and the treatywas conducted very orderly, andconcluded to mutual satisfaction.They then claim'd and received therum; this was in the afternoon: they

were near one hundred men,women, and children, and werelodg'd in temporary cabins, built inthe form of a square, just withoutthe town. In the evening, hearing agreat noise among them, thecommissioners walk'd out to seewhat was the matter. We found theyhad made a great bonfire in themiddle of the square; they were alldrunk, men and women, quarrelingand fighting. Their dark-colour'dbodies, half naked, seen only by thegloomy light of the bonfire, running

after and beating one another withfirebrands, accompanied by theirhorrid yellings, form'd a scene themost resembling our ideas of hellthat could well be imagin'd; therewas no appeasing the tumult, andwe retired to our lodging. Atmidnight a number of them camethundering at our door, demandingmore rum, of which we took nonotice.

The next day, sensible they hadmisbehav'd in giving us thatdisturbance, they sent three of their

old counselors to make theirapology. The orator acknowledg'dthe fault, but laid it upon the rum;and then endeavoured to excuse therum by saying, "The Great Spirit,who made all things, madeeverything for some use, andwhatever use he design'd anythingfor, that use it should always beput to. Now, when he made rum, hesaid, 'Let this be for the Indians toget drunk with,' and it must be so."And, indeed, if it be the design ofProvidence to extirpate these

savages in order to make room forcultivators of the earth, it seems notimprobable that rum may be theappointed means. It has alreadyannihilated all the tribes whoformerly inhabited the sea-coast.

In the evening, hearing a great noiseamong them, the commissionerswalk'd out to see what was the

matter

"In the evening, hearing a greatnoise among them, the

commissioners walk'd out tosee what was the matter"

In 1751, Dr. Thomas Bond, aparticular friend of mine, conceivedthe idea of establishing a hospital inPhiladelphia (a very beneficentdesign, which has been ascrib'd tome, but was originally his), for thereception and cure of poor sickpersons, whether inhabitants of theprovince or strangers. He waszealous and active in endeavouringto procure subscriptions for it, butthe proposal being a novelty inAmerica, and at first not wellunderstood, he met but with small

success.

At length he came to me with thecompliment that he found there wasno such thing as carrying a public-spirited project through without mybeing concern'd in it. "For," says he,"I am often ask'd by those to whom Ipropose subscribing, Have youconsulted Franklin upon thisbusiness? And what does he think ofit? And when I tell them that I havenot (supposing it rather out of yourline), they do not subscribe, but saythey will consider of it." I enquired

into the nature and probable utilityof his scheme, and receiving fromhim a very satisfactory explanation,I not only subscrib'd to it myself,but engag'd heartily in the design ofprocuring subscriptions from others.Previously, however, to thesolicitation, I endeavoured toprepare the minds of the people bywriting on the subject in thenewspapers, which was my usualcustom in such cases, but which hehad omitted.

The subscriptions afterwards were

more free and generous; but,beginning to flag, I saw they wouldbe insufficient without someassistance from the Assembly, andtherefore propos'd to petition for it,which was done. The countrymembers did not at first relish theproject; they objected that it couldonly be serviceable to the city, andtherefore the citizens alone shouldbe at the expense of it; and theydoubted whether the citizensthemselves generally approv'd of it.My allegation on the contrary, that it

met with such approbation as toleave no doubt of our being able toraise two thousand pounds byvoluntary donations, theyconsidered as a most extravagantsupposition, and utterly impossible.

On this I form'd my plan; and,asking leave to bring in a bill forincorporating the contributorsaccording to the prayer of theirpetition, and granting them a blanksum of money, which leave wasobtained chiefly on theconsideration that the House could

throw the bill out if they did not likeit, I drew it so as to make theimportant clause a conditional one,viz., "And be it enacted, by theauthority aforesaid, that when thesaid contributors shall have met andchosen their managers and treasurer,and shall have raised by theircontributions a capital stock of——value (the yearly interest ofwhich is to be applied to theaccommodating of the sick poor inthe said hospital, free of charge fordiet, attendance, advice, and

medicines), and shall make thesame appear to the satisfaction ofthe speaker of the Assembly for thetime being, that then it shall andmay be lawful for the said speaker,and he is hereby required, to sign anorder on the provincial treasurer forthe payment of two thousandpounds, in two yearly payments, tothe treasurer of the said hospital, tobe applied to the founding, building,and finishing of the same."

This condition carried the billthrough; for the members, who had

oppos'd the grant, and nowconceiv'd they might have the creditof being charitable without theexpense, agreed to its passage; andthen, in soliciting subscriptionsamong the people, we urg'd theconditional promise of the law asan additional motive to give, sinceevery man's donation would bedoubled; thus the clause work'dboth ways. The subscriptionsaccordingly soon exceeded therequisite sum, and we claim'd andreceiv'd the public gift, which

enabled us to carry the design intoexecution. A convenient andhandsome building was soonerected; the institution has byconstant experience been founduseful, and flourishes to this day;and I do not remember any of mypolitical manoeuvers, the success ofwhich gave me at the time morepleasure, or wherein, after thinkingof it, I more easily excus'd myselffor having made some use ofcunning.

It was about this time that another

projector, the Rev. GilbertTennent[89], came to me with arequest that I would assist him inprocuring a subscription forerecting a new meeting-house. Itwas to be for the use of acongregation he had gathered amongthe Presbyterians, who wereoriginally disciples of Mr.Whitefield. Unwilling to makemyself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently solicitingtheir contributions, I absolutelyrefus'd. He then desired I would

furnish him with a list of the namesof persons I knew by experience tobe generous and public-spirited. Ithought it would be unbecoming inme, after their kind compliance withmy solicitations, to mark them out tobe worried by other beggars, andtherefore refus'd also to give such alist. He then desir'd I would at leastgive him my advice. "That I willreadily do," said I; "and, in the firstplace, I advise you to apply to allthose whom you know will givesomething; next, to those whom you

are uncertain whether they will giveanything or not, and show them thelist of those who have given; and,lastly, do not neglect those who youare sure will give nothing, for insome of them you may be mistaken."He laugh'd and thank'd me, and saidhe would take my advice. He didso, for he ask'd of everybody, andhe obtain'd a much larger sum thanhe expected, with which he erectedthe capacious and very elegantmeeting-house that stands in Arch-street.

Our city, tho' laid out with abeautiful regularity, the streetslarge, straight, and crossing eachother at right angles, had thedisgrace of suffering those streets toremain long unpav'd, and in wetweather the wheels of heavycarriages plough'd them into aquagmire, so that it was difficult tocross them; and in dry weather thedust was offensive. I had liv'd nearwhat was call'd the Jersey Market,and saw with pain the inhabitantswading in mud while purchasing

their provisions. A strip of grounddown the middle of that market wasat length pav'd with brick, so that,being once in the market, they hadfirm footing, but were often overshoes in dirt to get there. By talkingand writing on the subject, I was atlength instrumental in getting thestreet pav'd with stone between themarket and the brick'd foot-pavement, that was on each sidenext the houses. This, for some time,gave an easy access to the marketdry-shod; but, the rest of the street

not being pav'd, whenever acarriage came out of the mud uponthis pavement, it shook off and leftits dirt upon it, and it was sooncover'd with mire, which was notremov'd, the city as yet having noscavengers.

After some inquiry, I found a poor,industrious man, who was willingto undertake keeping the pavementclean, by sweeping it twice a week,carrying off the dirt from before allthe neighbours' doors, for the sum ofsixpence per month, to be paid by

each house. I then wrote and printeda paper setting forth the advantagesto the neighbourhood that might beobtain'd by this small expense; thegreater ease in keeping our housesclean, so much dirt not beingbrought in by people's feet; thebenefit to the shops by more custom,etc., etc., as buyers could moreeasily get at them; and by nothaving, in windy weather, the dustblown in upon their goods, etc., etc.I sent one of these papers to eachhouse, and in a day or two went

round to see who would subscribean agreement to pay thesesixpences; it was unanimouslysign'd, and for a time well executed.All the inhabitants of the city weredelighted with the cleanliness of thepavement that surrounded themarket, it being a convenience toall, and this rais'd a general desireto have all the streets paved, andmade the people more willing tosubmit to a tax for that purpose.

After some time I drew a bill forpaving the city, and brought it into

the Assembly. It was just before Iwent to England, in 1757, and didnot pass till I was gone,[90] andthen with an alteration in the modeof assessment, which I thought notfor the better, but with an additionalprovision for lighting as well aspaving the streets, which was agreat improvement. It was by aprivate person, the late Mr. JohnClifton, his giving a sample of theutility of lamps, by placing one athis door, that the people were firstimpress'd with the idea of enlighting

all the city. The honour of thispublic benefit has also beenascrib'd to me, but it belongs trulyto that gentleman. I did but followhis example, and have only somemerit to claim respecting the formof our lamps, as differing from theglobe lamps we were at firstsupply'd with from London. Thosewe found inconvenient in theserespects: they admitted no airbelow; the smoke, therefore, did notreadily go out above, but circulatedin the globe, lodg'd on its inside,

and soon obstructed the light theywere intended to afford; giving,besides, the daily trouble of wipingthem clean; and an accidental strokeon one of them would demolish it,and render it totally useless. Itherefore suggested the composingthem of four flat panes, with a longfunnel above to draw up the smoke,and crevices admitting air below, tofacilitate the ascent of the smoke; bythis means they were kept clean,and did not grow dark in a fewhours, as the London lamps do, but

continu'd bright till morning, and anaccidental stroke would generallybreak but a single pane, easilyrepair'd.

I have sometimes wonder'd that theLondoners did not, from the effectholes in the bottom of the globelamps us'd at Vauxhall[91] have inkeeping them clean, learn to havesuch holes in their street lamps. But,these holes being made for anotherpurpose, viz., to communicate flamemore suddenly to the wick by a

little flax hanging down thro' them,the other use, of letting in air, seemsnot to have been thought of; andtherefore, after the lamps have beenlit a few hours, the streets ofLondon are very poorly illuminated.

The mention of these improvementsputs me in mind of one I propos'd,when in London, to Dr. Fothergill,who was among the best men I haveknown, and a great promoter ofuseful projects. I had observ'd thatthe streets, when dry, were neverswept, and the light dust carried

away; but it was suffer'd toaccumulate till wet weather reduc'dit to mud, and then, after lying somedays so deep on the pavement thatthere was no crossing but in pathskept clean by poor people withbrooms, it was with great labourrak'd together and thrown up intocarts open above, the sides ofwhich suffered some of the slush atevery jolt on the pavement to shakeout and fall, sometimes to theannoyance of foot-passengers. Thereason given for not sweeping the

dusty streets was that the dustwould fly into the windows ofshops and houses.

a poor woman sweeping mypavement with a birch broom

An accidental occurrence hadinstructed me how much sweepingmight be done in a little time. Ifound at my door in Craven-street,[92] one morning, a poor womansweeping my pavement with a birchbroom; she appeared very pale andfeeble, as just come out of a fit of

sickness. I ask'd who employ'd herto sweep there; she said, "Nobody,but I am very poor and in distress,and I sweeps before gentle-folksesdoors, and hopes they will give mesomething." I bid her sweep thewhole street clean, and I wouldgive her a shilling; this was at nineo'clock; at 12 she came for theshilling. From the slowness I saw atfirst in her working, I could scarcebelieve that the work was done sosoon, and sent my servant toexamine it, who reported that the

whole street was swept perfectlyclean, and all the dust plac'd in thegutter, which was in the middle; andthe next rain wash'd it quite away,so that the pavement and even thekennel were perfectly clean.

I then judg'd that, if that feeblewoman could sweep such a street inthree hours, a strong, active manmight have done it in half the time.And here let me remark theconvenience of having but onegutter in such a narrow street,running down its middle, instead of

two, one on each side, near thefootway; for where all the rain thatfalls on a street runs from the sidesand meets in the middle, it formsthere a current strong enough towash away all the mud it meetswith; but when divided into twochannels, it is often too weak tocleanse either, and only makes themud it finds more fluid, so that thewheels of carriages and feet ofhorses throw and dash it upon thefoot-pavement, which is therebyrendered foul and slippery, and

sometimes splash it upon those whoare walking. My proposal,communicated to the good doctor,was as follows:

"For the more effectual cleaning andkeeping clean the streets of Londonand Westminster, it is proposed thatthe several watchmen be contractedwith to have the dust swept up indry seasons, and the mud rak'd up atother times, each in the severalstreets and lanes of his round; thatthey be furnish'd with brooms andother proper instruments for these

purposes, to be kept at theirrespective stands, ready to furnishthe poor people they may employ inthe service.

"That in the dry summer months thedust be all swept up into heaps atproper distances, before the shopsand windows of houses are usuallyopened, when the scavengers, withclose-covered carts, shall alsocarry it all away.

"That the mud, when rak'd up, benot left in heaps to be spread

abroad again by the wheels ofcarriages and trampling of horses,but that the scavengers be providedwith bodies of carts, not plac'd highupon wheels, but low upon sliders,with lattice bottoms, which, beingcover'd with straw, will retain themud thrown into them, and permitthe water to drain from it, wherebyit will become much lighter, watermaking the greatest part of itsweight; these bodies of carts to beplac'd at convenient distances, andthe mud brought to them in

wheelbarrows; they remainingwhere plac'd till the mud is drain'd,and then horses brought to drawthem away."

I have since had doubts of thepracticability of the latter part ofthis proposal, on account of thenarrowness of some streets, and thedifficulty of placing the draining-sleds so as not to encumber toomuch the passage; but I am still ofopinion that the former, requiringthe dust to be swept up and carry'daway before the shops are open, is

very practicable in the summer,when the days are long; for, inwalking thro' the Strand and Fleet-street one morning at seven o'clock,I observ'd there was not one shopopen, tho' it had been daylight andthe sun up above three hours; theinhabitants of London chusingvoluntarily to live much by candle-light, and sleep by sunshine, and yetoften complain, a little absurdly, ofthe duty on candles, and the highprice of tallow.

Some may think these trifling

matters not worth minding orrelating; but when they consider thattho' dust blown into the eyes of asingle person, or into a single shopon a windy day, is but of smallimportance, yet the great number ofthe instances in a populous city, andits frequent repetitions give itweight and consequence, perhapsthey will not censure very severelythose who bestow some attention toaffairs of this seemingly low nature.Human felicity is produced not somuch by great pieces of good

fortune that seldom happen, as bylittle advantages that occur everyday. Thus, if you teach a poor youngman to shave himself, and keep hisrazor in order, you may contributemore to the happiness of his lifethan in giving him a thousandguineas. The money may be soonspent, the regret only remaining ofhaving foolishly consumed it; but inthe other case, he escapes thefrequent vexation of waiting forbarbers, and of their sometimesdirty fingers, offensive breaths, and

dull razors; he shaves when mostconvenient to him, and enjoys dailythe pleasure of its being done with agood instrument. With thesesentiments I have hazarded the fewpreceding pages, hoping they mayafford hints which some time orother may be useful to a city I love,having lived many years in it veryhappily, and perhaps to some of ourtowns in America.

Having been for some timeemployed by the postmaster-generalof America as his comptroller in

regulating several offices, andbringing the officers to account, Iwas, upon his death in 1753,appointed, jointly with Mr. WilliamHunter, to succeed him, by acommission from the postmaster-general in England. The Americanoffice never had hitherto paidanything to that of Britain. We wereto have six hundred pounds a yearbetween us, if we could make thatsum out of the profits of the office.To do this, a variety ofimprovements were necessary;

some of these were inevitably atfirst expensive, so that in the firstfour years the office became abovenine hundred pounds in debt to us.But it soon after began to repay us;and before I was displac'd by afreak of the ministers, of which Ishall speak hereafter, we hadbrought it to yield three times asmuch clear revenue to the crown asthe post-office of Ireland. Since thatimprudent transaction, they havereceiv'd from it—not one farthing!

The business of the post-office

occasion'd my taking a journey thisyear to New England, where theCollege of Cambridge, of their ownmotion, presented me with thedegree of Master of Arts. YaleCollege, in Connecticut, had beforemade me a similar compliment.Thus, without studying in anycollege, I came to partake of theirhonours. They were conferr'd inconsideration of my improvementsand discoveries in the electricbranch of natural philosophy.

[86] Tench Francis, uncle of SirPhilip Francis, emigrated fromEngland to Maryland, andbecame attorney for LordBaltimore. He removed toPhiladelphia and was attorney-general of Pennsylvania from1741 to 1755. He died inPhiladelphia August 16, 1758.—Smyth.

[87] Later called the Universityof Pennsylvania.

[88] See the votes to have thismore correctly.—Marg. note.

[89] Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) came to America withhis father, Rev. WilliamTennent, and taught for a timein the "Log College," fromwhich sprang the College ofNew Jersey.—Smyth.

[90] See votes.

[91] Vauxhall Gardens, once apopular and fashionableLondon resort, situated on theThames above Lambeth. TheGardens were closed in 1859,but they will always beremembered because of Sir

Roger de Coverley's visit tothem in the Spectator and fromthe descriptions in Smollett'sHumphry Clinker andThackeray's Vanity Fair.

[92] A short street near CharingCross, London.

XIV

ALBANY PLAN OF UNION

block-IN 1754, war with Francebeing again apprehended, acongress of commissioners from thedifferent colonies was, by an orderof the Lords of Trade, to beassembled at Albany, there toconfer with the chiefs of the SixNations concerning the means ofdefending both their country andours. Governor Hamilton, havingreceiv'd this order, acquainted theHouse with it, requesting theywould furnish proper presents forthe Indians, to be given on this

occasion; and naming the speaker(Mr. Norris) and myself to join Mr.Thomas Penn and Mr. SecretaryPeters as commissioners to act forPennsylvania. The House approv'dthe nomination, and provided thegoods for the present, and tho' theydid not much like treating out of theprovinces; and we met the othercommissioners at Albany about themiddle of June.

In our way thither, I projected anddrew a plan for the union of all thecolonies under one government, so

far as might be necessary fordefense, and other important generalpurposes. As we pass'd thro' NewYork, I had there shown my projectto Mr. James Alexander and Mr.Kennedy, two gentlemen of greatknowledge in public affairs, and,being fortified by their approbation,I ventur'd to lay it before theCongress. It then appeared thatseveral of the commissioners hadform'd plans of the same kind. Aprevious question was first taken,whether a union should be

established, which pass'd in theaffirmative unanimously. Acommittee was then appointed, onemember from each colony, toconsider the several plans andreport. Mine happen'd to bepreferr'd, and, with a fewamendments, was accordinglyreported.

JOIN or DIE.

By this plan the general governmentwas to be administered by apresident-general, appointed and

supported by the crown, and a grandcouncil was to be chosen by therepresentatives of the people of theseveral colonies, met in theirrespective assemblies. The debatesupon it in Congress went on daily,hand in hand with the Indianbusiness. Many objections anddifficulties were started, but atlength they were all overcome, andthe plan was unanimously agreed to,and copies ordered to betransmitted to the Board of Tradeand to the assemblies of the several

provinces. Its fate was singular; theassemblies did not adopt it, as theyall thought there was too muchprerogative in it, and in England itwas judg'd to have too much of thedemocratic. The Board of Tradetherefore did not approve of it, norrecommend it for the approbation ofhis majesty; but another scheme wasform'd, supposed to answer thesame purpose better, whereby thegovernors of the provinces, withsome members of their respectivecouncils, were to meet and order

the raising of troops, building offorts, etc., and to draw on thetreasury of Great Britain for theexpense, which was afterwards tobe refunded by an act of Parliamentlaying a tax on America. My plan,with my reasons in support of it, isto be found among my politicalpapers that are printed.

Being the winter following inBoston, I had much conversationwith Governor Shirley upon boththe plans. Part of what passedbetween us on the occasion may

also be seen among those papers.The different and contrary reasonsof dislike to my plan makes mesuspect that it was really the truemedium; and I am still of opinion itwould have been happy for bothsides the water if it had beenadopted. The colonies, so united,would have been sufficiently strongto have defended themselves; therewould then have been no need oftroops from England; of course, thesubsequent pretence for taxingAmerica, and the bloody contest it

occasioned, would have beenavoided. But such mistakes are notnew; history is full of the errors ofstates and princes.

"Look round the habitable world,how few

Know their own good, or, knowingit, pursue!"

Those who govern, having muchbusiness on their hands, do notgenerally like to take the trouble ofconsidering and carrying intoexecution new projects. The best

public measures are thereforeseldom adopted from previouswisdom, but forc'd by the occasion.

The Governor of Pennsylvania, insending it down to the Assembly,expressed his approbation of theplan, "as appearing to him to bedrawn up with great clearness andstrength of judgment, and thereforerecommended it as well worthy oftheir closest and most seriousattention." The House, however, bythe management of a certainmember, took it up when I happen'd

to be absent, which I thought notvery fair, and reprobated it withoutpaying any attention to it at all, tomy no small mortification.

XV

QUARRELS WITH THEPROPRIETARY GOVERNORS

block-IN my journey to Boston this

year, I met at New York with ournew governor, Mr. Morris, justarriv'd there from England, withwhom I had been before intimatelyacquainted. He brought acommission to supersede Mr.Hamilton, who, tir'd with thedisputes his proprietary instructionssubjected him to, had resign'd. Mr.Morris ask'd me if I thought he mustexpect as uncomfortable anadministration. I said, "No; youmay, on the contrary, have a verycomfortable one, if you will only

take care not to enter into anydispute with the Assembly." "Mydear friend," says he, pleasantly,"how can you advise my avoidingdisputes? You know I lovedisputing; it is one of my greatestpleasures; however, to show theregard I have for your counsel, Ipromise you I will, if possible,avoid them." He had some reasonfor loving to dispute, beingeloquent, an acute sophister, and,therefore, generally successful inargumentative conversation. He had

been brought up to it from a boy, hisfather, as I have heard, accustominghis children to dispute with oneanother for his diversion, whilesitting at table after dinner; but Ithink the practice was not wise; for,in the course of my observation,these disputing, contradicting, andconfuting people are generallyunfortunate in their affairs. They getvictory sometimes, but they neverget good will, which would be ofmore use to them. We parted, hegoing to Philadelphia, and I to

Boston.

In returning, I met at New York withthe votes of the Assembly, by whichit appear'd that, notwithstanding hispromise to me, he and the Housewere already in high contention; andit was a continual battle betweenthem as long as he retain'd thegovernment. I had my share of it;for, as soon as I got back to my seatin the Assembly, I was put on everycommittee for answering hisspeeches and messages, and by thecommittees always desired to make

the drafts. Our answers, as well ashis messages, were often tart, andsometimes indecently abusive; and,as he knew I wrote for theAssembly, one might have imaginedthat, when we met, we could hardlyavoid cutting throats; but he was sogood-natur'd a man that no personaldifference between him and me wasoccasion'd by the contest, and weoften din'd together.

One afternoon, in the height of thispublic quarrel, we met in the street

One afternoon, in the height of thispublic quarrel, we met in the street."Franklin," says he, "you must gohome with me and spend theevening; I am to have somecompany that you will like;" and,taking me by the arm, he led me tohis house. In gay conversation overour wine, after supper, he told us,jokingly, that he much admir'd theidea of Sancho Panza,[93] who,when it was proposed to give him agovernment, requested it might be agovernment of blacks, as then, if he

could not agree with his people, hemight sell them. One of his friends,who sat next to me, says, "Franklin,why do you continue to side withthese damn'd Quakers? Had not youbetter sell them? The proprietorwould give you a good price." "Thegovernor," says I, "has not yetblacked them enough." He, indeed,had laboured hard to blacken theAssembly in all his messages, butthey wip'd off his colouring as fastas he laid it on, and plac'd it, inreturn, thick upon his own face; so

that, finding he was likely to benegrofied himself, he, as well asMr. Hamilton, grew tir'd of thecontest, and quitted the government.

These public quarrels[94] were allat bottom owing to theproprietaries, our hereditarygovernors, who, when any expensewas to be incurred for the defenseof their province, with incrediblemeanness instructed their deputiesto pass no act for levying thenecessary taxes, unless their vast

estates were in the same actexpressly excused; and they hadeven taken bonds of these deputiesto observe such instructions. TheAssemblies for three years held outagainst this injustice, tho'constrained to bend at last. Atlength Captain Denny, who wasGovernor Morris's successor,ventured to disobey thoseinstructions; how that was broughtabout I shall show hereafter.

But I am got forward too fast withmy story: there are still some

transactions to be mention'd thathappened during the administrationof Governor Morris.

War being in a manner commencedwith France, the government ofMassachusetts Bay projected anattack upon Crown Point,[95] andsent Mr. Quincy to Pennsylvania,and Mr. Pownall, afterwardGovernor Pownall, to New York, tosolicit assistance. As I was in theAssembly, knew its temper, and wasMr. Quincy's countryman, he appli'd

to me for my influence andassistance. I dictated his address tothem, which was well received.They voted an aid of ten thousandpounds, to be laid out in provisions.But the governor refusing his assentto their bill (which included thiswith other sums granted for the useof the crown), unless a clause wereinserted exempting the proprietaryestate from bearing any part of thetax that would be necessary, theAssembly, tho' very desirous ofmaking their grant to New England

effectual, were at a loss how toaccomplish it. Mr. Quincy laboredhard with the governor to obtain hisassent, but he was obstinate.

I then suggested a method of doingthe business without the governor,by orders on the trustees of the Loanoffice, which, by law, the Assemblyhad the right of drawing. There was,indeed, little or no money at thattime in the office, and therefore Ipropos'd that the orders should bepayable in a year, and to bear aninterest of five per cent. With these

orders I suppos'd the provisionsmight easily be purchas'd. TheAssembly, with very littlehesitation, adopted the proposal.The orders were immediatelyprinted, and I was one of thecommittee directed to sign anddispose of them. The fund forpaying them was the interest of allthe paper currency then extant in theprovince upon loan, together withthe revenue arising from the excise,which being known to be more thansufficient, they obtain'd instant

credit, and were not only receiv'd inpayment for the provisions, butmany money'd people, who hadcash lying by them, vested it inthose orders, which they foundadvantageous, as they bore interestwhile upon hand, and might on anyoccasion be used as money; so thatthey were eagerly all bought up, andin a few weeks none of them wereto be seen. Thus this importantaffair was by my means completed.Mr. Quincy return'd thanks to theAssembly in a handsome memorial,

went home highly pleas'd with thissuccess of his embassy, and everafter bore for me the most cordialand affectionate friendship.

[93] The "round, selfish, andself-important" squire of DonQuixote in Cervantes' romanceof that name.

[94] My acts in Morris's time,military, etc.—Marg. note.

[95] On Lake Champlain, ninetymiles north of Albany. It wascaptured by the French in1731, attacked by the English

in 1755 and 1756, andabandoned by the French in1759. It was finally capturedfrom the English by theAmericans in 1775.

XVI

BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION

block-THE British government, notchusing to permit the union of the

colonies as propos'd at Albany, andto trust that union with their defense,lest they should thereby grow toomilitary, and feel their own strength,suspicions and jealousies at thistime being entertain'd of them, sentover General Braddock with tworegiments of regular English troopsfor that purpose. He landed atAlexandria, in Virginia, and thencemarch'd to Frederictown, inMaryland, where he halted forcarriages. Our Assemblyapprehending, from some

information, that he had conceivedviolent prejudices against them, asaverse to the service, wish'd me towait upon him, not as from them, butas postmaster-general, under theguise of proposing to settle withhim the mode of conducting withmost celerity and certainty thedespatches between him and thegovernors of the several provinces,with whom he must necessarilyhave continual correspondence, andof which they propos'd to pay theexpense. My son accompanied me

on this journey.

We found the general atFrederictown, waiting impatientlyfor the return of those he had sentthro' the back parts of Maryland andVirginia to collect waggons. Istayed with him several days, din'dwith him daily, and had fullopportunity of removing all hisprejudices, by the information ofwhat the Assembly had before hisarrival actually done, and were stillwilling to do, to facilitate hisoperations. When I was about to

depart, the returns of waggons to beobtained were brought in, by whichit appear'd that they amounted onlyto twenty-five, and not all of thosewere in serviceable condition. Thegeneral and all the officers weresurpris'd, declar'd the expeditionwas then at an end, beingimpossible, and exclaim'd againstthe ministers for ignorantly landingthem in a country destitute of themeans of conveying their stores,baggage, etc., not less than onehundred and fifty waggons being

necessary.

I happen'd to say I thought it waspity they had not been landed ratherin Pennsylvania, as in that countryalmost every farmer had hiswaggon. The general eagerly laidhold of my words, and said, "Thenyou, sir, who are a man of interestthere, can probably procure themfor us; and I beg you will undertakeit." I ask'd what terms were to beoffer'd the owners of the waggons,and I was desir'd to put on paper theterms that appeared to me

necessary. This I did, and they wereagreed to, and a commission andinstructions accordingly prepar'dimmediately. What those terms werewill appear in the advertisement Ipublish'd as soon as I arriv'd atLancaster, which being, from thegreat and sudden effect it produc'd,a piece of some curiosity, I shallinsert it at length, as follows:

"ADVERTISEMENT.

"LANCASTER, April 26, 1755.

"Whereas, one hundred and fiftywaggons, with four horses to eachwaggon, and fifteen hundred saddleor pack horses, are wanted for theservice of his majesty's forces nowabout to rendezvous at Will's Creek,and his excellency GeneralBraddock having been pleased toempower me to contract for the hireof the same, I hereby give noticethat I shall attend for that purpose atLancaster from this day to nextWednesday evening, and at Yorkfrom next Thursday morning till

Friday evening, where I shall beready to agree for waggons andteams, or single horses, on thefollowing terms, viz.: 1. That thereshall be paid for each waggon, withfour good horses and a driver,fifteen shillings per diem; and foreach able horse with a pack-saddle,or other saddle and furniture, twoshillings per diem; and for eachable horse without a saddle,eighteen pence per diem. 2. That thepay commence from the time oftheir joining the forces at Will's

Creek, which must be on or beforethe 20th of May ensuing, and that areasonable allowance be paid overand above for the time necessary fortheir travelling to Will's Creek andhome again after their discharge. 3.Each waggon and team, and everysaddle or pack horse, is to bevalued by indifferent personschosen between me and the owner;and in case of the loss of anywaggon, team, or other horse in theservice, the price according to suchvaluation is to be allowed and paid.

4. Seven days' pay is to beadvanced and paid in hand by me tothe owner of each waggon and team,or horse, at the time of contracting,if required, and the remainder to bepaid by General Braddock, or bythe paymaster of the army, at thetime of their discharge, or from timeto time, as it shall be demanded. 5.No drivers of waggons, or personstaking care of the hired horses, areon any account to be called upon todo the duty of soldiers, or beotherwise employed than in

conducting or taking care of theircarriages or horses. 6. All oats,Indian corn, or other forage thatwaggons or horses bring to thecamp, more than is necessary for thesubsistence of the horses, is to betaken for the use of the army, and areasonable price paid for the same.

"Note.—My son, William Franklin,is empowered to enter into likecontracts with any person inCumberland county.

"B. FRANKLIN."

"To the inhabitants of theCounties of Lancaster, York,

and Cumberland.

"Friends and Countrymen,

"Being occasionally[96] at the campat Frederic a few days since, Ifound the general and officersextremely exasperated on account oftheir not being supplied with horsesand carriages, which had beenexpected from this province, asmost able to furnish them; but,through the dissensions between our

governor and Assembly, money hadnot been provided, nor any stepstaken for that purpose.

"It was proposed to send an armedforce immediately into thesecounties, to seize as many of thebest carriages and horses as shouldbe wanted, and compel as manypersons into the service as wouldbe necessary to drive and take careof them.

"I apprehended that the progress ofBritish soldiers through these

counties on such an occasion,especially considering the temperthey are in, and their resentmentagainst us, would be attended withmany and great inconveniences tothe inhabitants, and therefore morewillingly took the trouble of tryingfirst what might be done by fair andequitable means. The people ofthese back counties have latelycomplained to the Assembly that asufficient currency was wanting;you have an opportunity ofreceiving and dividing among you a

very considerable sum; for, if theservice of this expedition shouldcontinue, as it is more than probableit will, for one hundred and twentydays, the hire of these waggons andhorses will amount to upward ofthirty thousand pounds, which willbe paid you in silver and gold of theking's money.

"The service will be light and easy,for the army will scarce marchabove twelve miles per day, and thewaggons and baggage-horses, asthey carry those things that are

absolutely necessary to the welfareof the army, must march with thearmy, and no faster; and are, for thearmy's sake, always placed wherethey can be most secure, whether ina march or in a camp.

"If you are really, as I believe youare, good and loyal subjects to hismajesty, you may now do a mostacceptable service, and make iteasy to yourselves; for three or fourof such as cannot separately sparefrom the business of theirplantations a waggon and four

horses and a driver, may do ittogether, one furnishing the waggon,another one or two horses, andanother the driver, and divide thepay proportionately between you;but if you do not this service to yourking and country voluntarily, whensuch good pay and reasonable termsare offered to you, your loyalty willbe strongly suspected. The king'sbusiness must be done; so manybrave troops, come so far for yourdefense, must not stand idle throughyour backwardness to do what may

be reasonably expected from you;waggons and horses must be had;violent measures will probably beused, and you will be left to seekfor a recompense where you canfind it, and your case, perhaps, belittle pitied or regarded.

"I have no particular interest in thisaffair, as, except the satisfaction ofendeavouring to do good, I shallhave only my labour for my pains. Ifthis method of obtaining thewaggons and horses is not likely tosucceed, I am obliged to send word

to the general in fourteen days; and Isuppose Sir John St. Clair, thehussar, with a body of soldiers, willimmediately enter the province forthe purpose, which I shall be sorryto hear, because I am very sincerelyand truly your friend and well-wisher,

"B. FRANKLIN."

I received of the general about eighthundred pounds, to be disbursed inadvance-money to the waggonowners, etc.; but that sum being

insufficient, I advanc'd upward oftwo hundred pounds more, and intwo weeks the one hundred and fiftywaggons, with two hundred andfifty-nine carrying horses, were ontheir march for the camp. Theadvertisement promised paymentaccording to the valuation, in caseany waggon or horse should be lost.The owners, however, alleging theydid not know General Braddock, orwhat dependence might be had onhis promise, insisted on my bondfor the performance, which I

accordingly gave them.

While I was at the camp, suppingone evening with the officers ofColonel Dunbar's regiment, herepresented to me his concern forthe subalterns, who, he said, weregenerally not in affluence, and couldill afford, in this dear country, to layin the stores that might be necessaryin so long a march, thro' awilderness, where nothing was tobe purchas'd. I commiserated theircase, and resolved to endeavourprocuring them some relief. I said

nothing, however, to him of myintention, but wrote the nextmorning to the committee of theAssembly, who had the dispositionof some public money, warmlyrecommending the case of theseofficers to their consideration, andproposing that a present should besent them of necessaries andrefreshments. My son, who hadsome experience of a camp life, andof its wants, drew up a list for me,which I enclos'd in my letter. Thecommittee approv'd, and used such

diligence that, conducted by my son,the stores arrived at the camp assoon as the waggons. Theyconsisted of twenty parcels, eachcontaining

6 lbs. loaf sugar. 1 Gloucestercheese.

6 lbs. goodMuscovado do.

1 kegg containing20 lbs. goodbutter.

1 lb. good greentea.

2 doz. oldMadeira wine.

1 lb. good bohea 2 gallons

do. Jamaica spirits.6 lbs. goodground coffee.

1 bottle flour ofmustard.

6 lbs. chocolate. 2 well-cur'dhams.

1-2 cwt. bestwhite biscuit.

1-2 dozen dry'dtongues.

1-2 lb. pepper. 6 lbs. rice.1 quart bestwhite wine

6 lbs. raisins.

1 quart bestwhite winevinegar.

These twenty parcels, well pack'd,were placed on as many horses,each parcel, with the horse, beingintended as a present for oneofficer. They were very thankfullyreceiv'd, and the kindnessacknowledg'd by letters to me fromthe colonels of both regiments, inthe most grateful terms. The general,too, was highly satisfied with myconduct in procuring him thewaggons, etc., and readily paid myaccount of disbursements, thankingme repeatedly, and requesting my

farther assistance in sendingprovisions after him. I undertookthis also, and was busily employ'din it till we heard of his defeat,advancing for the service of myown money, upwards of onethousand pounds sterling, of which Isent him an account. It came to hishands, luckily for me, a few daysbefore the battle, and he return'd meimmediately an order on thepaymaster for the round sum of onethousand pounds, leaving theremainder to the next account. I

consider this payment as good luck,having never been able to obtainthat remainder, of which morehereafter.

This general was, I think, a braveman, and might probably have madea figure as a good officer in someEuropean war. But he had too muchself-confidence, too high an opinionof the validity of regular troops, andtoo mean a one of both Americansand Indians. George Croghan, ourIndian interpreter, join'd him on hismarch with one hundred of those

people, who might have been ofgreat use to his army as guides,scouts, etc., if he had treated themkindly; but he slighted and neglectedthem, and they gradually left him.

In conversation with him one day,he was giving me some account ofhis intended progress. "After takingFort Duquesne,"[97] says he, "I amto proceed to Niagara; and, havingtaken that, to Frontenac,[98] if theseason will allow time; and Isuppose it will, for Duquesne can

hardly detain me above three orfour days; and then I see nothing thatcan obstruct my march to Niagara."Having before revolv'd in my mindthe long line his army must make intheir march by a very narrow road,to be cut for them thro' the woodsand bushes, and also what I hadread of a former defeat of fifteenhundred French, who invaded theIroquois country, I had conceiv'dsome doubts and some fears for theevent of the campaign. But Iventur'd only to say, "To be sure,

sir, if you arrive well beforeDuquesne, with these fine troops, sowell provided with artillery, thatplace not yet completely fortified,and as we hear with no very stronggarrison, can probably make but ashort resistance. The only danger Iapprehend of obstruction to yourmarch is from ambuscades ofIndians, who, by constant practice,are dexterous in laying andexecuting them; and the slender line,near four miles long, which yourarmy must make, may expose it to

be attack'd by surprise in its flanks,and to be cut like a thread intoseveral pieces, which, from theirdistance, cannot come up in time tosupport each other."

He smil'd at my ignorance, andreply'd, "These savages may,indeed, be a formidable enemy toyour raw American militia, butupon the king's regular anddisciplin'd troops, sir, it isimpossible they should make anyimpression." I was conscious of animpropriety in my disputing with a

military man in matters of hisprofession, and said no more. Theenemy, however, did not take theadvantage of his army which Iapprehended its long line of marchexpos'd it to, but let it advancewithout interruption till within ninemiles of the place; and then, whenmore in a body (for it had justpassed a river, where the front hadhalted till all were come over), andin a more open part of the woodsthan any it had pass'd, attack'd itsadvanced guard by heavy fire from

behind trees and bushes, which wasthe first intelligence the general hadof an enemy's being near him. Thisguard being disordered, the generalhurried the troops up to theirassistance, which was done in greatconfusion, thro' waggons, baggage,and cattle; and presently the firecame upon their flank: the officers,being on horseback, were moreeasily distinguish'd, pick'd out asmarks, and fell very fast; and thesoldiers were crowded together in ahuddle, having or hearing no orders,

and standing to be shot at till two-thirds of them were killed; and then,being seiz'd with a panick, thewhole fled with precipitation.

The only danger I apprehend ofobstruction to your march is from

ambuscades of Indians

The waggoners took each a horseout of his team and scamper'd; theirexample was immediately followedby others; so that all the waggons,provisions, artillery, and storeswere left to the enemy. The general,

being wounded, was brought offwith difficulty; his secretary, Mr.Shirley, was killed by his side; andout of eighty-six officers, sixty-threewere killed or wounded, and sevenhundred and fourteen men killed outof eleven hundred. These elevenhundred had been picked men fromthe whole army; the rest had beenleft behind with Colonel Dunbar,who was to follow with the heavierpart of the stores, provisions, andbaggage. The flyers, not beingpursu'd, arriv'd at Dunbar's camp,

and the panick they brought withthem instantly seiz'd him and all hispeople; and, tho' he had now aboveone thousand men, and the enemywho had beaten Braddock did not atmost exceed four hundred Indiansand French together, instead ofproceeding, and endeavouring torecover some of the lost honour, heordered all the stores, ammunition,etc., to be destroy'd, that he mighthave more horses to assist his flighttowards the settlements, and lesslumber to remove. He was there met

with requests from the governors ofVirginia, Maryland, andPennsylvania, that he would post histroops on the frontier, so as toafford some protection to theinhabitants; but he continued hishasty march thro' all the country, notthinking himself safe till he arrivedat Philadelphia, where theinhabitants could protect him. Thiswhole transaction gave usAmericans the first suspicion thatour exalted ideas of the prowess ofBritish regulars had not been well

founded.[99]

In their first march, too, from theirlanding till they got beyond thesettlements, they had plundered andstripped the inhabitants, totallyruining some poor families, besidesinsulting, abusing, and confining thepeople if they remonstrated. Thiswas enough to put us out of conceitof such defenders, if we had reallywanted any. How different was theconduct of our French friends in1781, who, during a march thro' the

most inhabited part of our countryfrom Rhode Island to Virginia, nearseven hundred miles, occasionednot the smallest complaint for theloss of a pig, a chicken, or even anapple.

Captain Orme, who was one of thegeneral's aids-de-camp, and, beinggrievously wounded, was broughtoff with him, and continu'd with himto his death, which happen'd in afew days, told me that he wastotally silent all the first day, and atnight only said, "Who would have

thought it?" That he was silentagain the following day, saying onlyat last, "We shall better know howto deal with them another time";and dy'd in a few minutes after.

The secretary's papers, with all thegeneral's orders, instructions, andcorrespondence, falling into theenemy's hands, they selected andtranslated into French a number ofthe articles, which they printed, toprove the hostile intentions of theBritish court before the declarationof war. Among these I saw some

letters of the general to the ministry,speaking highly of the great serviceI had rendered the army, andrecommending me to their notice.David Hume,[100] too, who wassome years after secretary to LordHertford, when minister in France,and afterward to General Conway,when secretary of state, told me hehad seen among the papers in thatoffice, letters from Braddock highlyrecommending me. But, theexpedition having been unfortunate,my service, it seems, was not

thought of much value, for thoserecommendations were never of anyuse to me.

As to rewards from himself, I ask'donly one, which was, that he wouldgive orders to his officers not toenlist any more of our boughtservants, and that he woulddischarge such as had been alreadyenlisted. This he readily granted,and several were accordinglyreturn'd to their masters, on myapplication. Dunbar, when thecommand devolv'd on him, was not

so generous. He being atPhiladelphia, on his retreat, orrather flight, I apply'd to him for thedischarge of the servants of threepoor farmers of Lancaster countythat he had enlisted, reminding himof the late general's orders on thathead. He promised me that, if themasters would come to him atTrenton, where he should be in afew days on his march to NewYork, he would there deliver theirmen to them. They accordingly wereat the expense and trouble of going

to Trenton, and there he refus'd toperform his promise, to their greatloss and disappointment.

As soon as the loss of the waggonsand horses was generally known,all the owners came upon me for thevaluation which I had given bond topay. Their demands gave me a greatdeal of trouble, my acquainting themthat the money was ready in thepaymaster's hands, but that ordersfor paying it must first be obtainedfrom General Shirley,[101] and my

assuring them that I had apply'd tothat general by letter; but, he beingat a distance, an answer could notsoon be receiv'd, and they musthave patience, all this was notsufficient to satisfy, and some beganto sue me. General Shirley at lengthrelieved me from this terriblesituation by appointingcommissioners to examine theclaims, and ordering payment. Theyamounted to near twenty thousandpound, which to pay would haveruined me.

Before we had the news of thisdefeat, the two Doctors Bond cameto me with a subscription paper forraising money to defray the expenseof a grand firework, which it wasintended to exhibit at a rejoicing onreceipt of the news of our takingFort Duquesne. I looked grave, andsaid it would, I thought, be timeenough to prepare for the rejoicingwhen we knew we should haveoccasion to rejoice. They seem'dsurpris'd that I did not immediatelycomply with their proposal. "Why

the d——l!" says one of them, "yousurely don't suppose that the fortwill not be taken?" "I don't knowthat it will not be taken, but I knowthat the events of war are subject togreat uncertainty." I gave them thereasons of my doubting; thesubscription was dropt, and theprojectors thereby missed themortification they would haveundergone if the firework had beenprepared. Dr. Bond, on some otheroccasion afterward, said that he didnot like Franklin's forebodings.

Governor Morris, who hadcontinually worried the Assemblywith message after message beforethe defeat of Braddock, to beat theminto the making of acts to raisemoney for the defense of theprovince, without taxing, amongothers, the proprietary estates, andhad rejected all their bills for nothaving such an exempting clause,now redoubled his attacks withmore hope of success, the dangerand necessity being greater. TheAssembly, however, continu'd firm,

believing they had justice on theirside, and that it would be giving upan essential right if they suffered thegovernor to amend their money-bills. In one of the last, indeed,which was for granting fiftythousand pounds, his propos'damendment was only of a singleword. The bill express'd "that allestates, real and personal, were tobe taxed, those of the proprietariesnot excepted." His amendment was,for not read only: a small, but verymaterial alteration. However, when

the news of this disaster reachedEngland, our friends there whom wehad taken care to furnish with all theAssembly's answers to thegovernor's messages, rais'd aclamor against the proprietaries fortheir meanness and injustice ingiving their governor suchinstructions; some going so far as tosay that, by obstructing the defenseof their province, they forfeitedtheir right to it. They wereintimidated by this, and sent ordersto their receiver-general to add five

thousand pounds of their money towhatever sum might be given by theAssembly for such purpose.

This, being notified to the House,was accepted in lieu of their shareof a general tax, and a new bill wasform'd, with an exempting clause,which passed accordingly. By thisact I was appointed one of thecommissioners for disposing of themoney, sixty thousand pounds. I hadbeen active in modelling the billand procuring its passage, and had,at the same time, drawn a bill for

establishing and disciplining avoluntary militia, which I carriedthro' the House without muchdifficulty, as care was taken in it toleave the Quakers at their liberty.To promote the associationnecessary to form the militia, Iwrote a dialogue,[102] stating andanswering all the objections I couldthink of to such a militia, which wasprinted, and had, as I thought, greateffect.

[96] By chance.

[97] Pittsburg.

[98] Kingston, at the easternend of Lake Ontario.

[99] Other accounts of thisexpedition and defeat may befound in Fiske's Washingtonand his Country, or Lodge'sGeorge Washington, Vol. 1.

[100] A famous Scotchphilosopher and historian(1711-1776).

[101] Governor ofMassachusetts and commanderof the British forces in

America.

[102] This dialogue and themilitia act are in theGentleman's Magazine forFebruary and March, 1756.—Marg. note.

XVII

FRANKLIN'S DEFENSE OFTHE FRONTIER

block-WHILE the severalcompanies in the city and countrywere forming, and learning theirexercise, the governor prevail'dwith me to take charge of our North-western frontier, which wasinfested by the enemy, and providefor the defense of the inhabitants byraising troops and building a line offorts. I undertook this militarybusiness, tho' I did not conceivemyself well qualified for it. Hegave me a commission with fullpowers, and a parcel of blank

commissions for officers, to begiven to whom I thought fit. I hadbut little difficulty in raising men,having soon five hundred and sixtyunder my command. My son, whohad in the preceding war been anofficer in the army rais'd againstCanada, was my aid-de-camp, andof great use to me. The Indians hadburned Gnadenhut,[103] a villagesettled by the Moravians, andmassacred the inhabitants; but theplace was thought a good situationfor one of the forts.

In order to march thither, Iassembled the companies atBethlehem, the chief establishmentof those people. I was surprised tofind it in so good a posture ofdefense; the destruction ofGnadenhut had made themapprehend danger. The principalbuildings were defended by astockade; they had purchased aquantity of arms and ammunitionfrom New York, and had evenplac'd quantities of small pavingstones between the windows of

their high stone houses, for theirwomen to throw down upon theheads of any Indians that shouldattempt to force into them. Thearmed brethren, too, kept watch,and reliev'd as methodically as inany garrison town. In conversationwith the bishop, Spangenberg, Imention'd this my surprise; for,knowing they had obtained an act ofParliament exempting them frommilitary duties in the colonies, I hadsuppos'd they were conscientiouslyscrupulous of bearing arms. He

answer'd me that it was not one oftheir established principles, butthat, at the time of their obtainingthat act, it was thought to be aprinciple with many of their people.On this occasion, however, they, totheir surprise, found it adopted bybut a few. It seems they were eitherdeceiv'd in themselves, or deceiv'dthe Parliament; but common sense,aided by present danger, willsometimes be too strong forwhimsical opinions.

It was the beginning of January

when we set out upon this businessof building forts. I sent onedetachment toward the Minisink,with instructions to erect one for thesecurity of that upper part of thecountry, and another to the lowerpart, with similar instructions; and Iconcluded to go myself with the restof my force to Gnadenhut, where afort was tho't more immediatelynecessary. The Moravians procur'dme five waggons for our tools,stores, baggage, etc.

Just before we left Bethlehem,

eleven farmers, who had beendriven from their plantations by theIndians, came to me requesting asupply of firearms, that they mightgo back and fetch off their cattle. Igave them each a gun with suitableammunition. We had not march'dmany miles before it began to rain,and it continued raining all day;there were no habitations on theroad to shelter us, till we arriv'dnear night at the house of a German,where, and in his barn, we were allhuddled together, as wet as water

could make us. It was well we werenot attack'd in our march, for ourarms were of the most ordinary sort,and our men could not keep theirgun locks[104] dry. The Indians aredexterous in contrivances for thatpurpose, which we had not. Theymet that day the eleven poor farmersabove mentioned, and killed ten ofthem. The one who escap'd inform'dthat his and his companions' gunswould not go off, the priming beingwet with the rain.

We had not march'd many milesbefore it began to rain

The next day being fair, wecontinu'd our march, and arriv'd atthe desolated Gnadenhut. There wasa saw-mill near, round which wereleft several piles of boards, withwhich we soon hutted ourselves; anoperation the more necessary at thatinclement season, as we had notents. Our first work was to burymore effectually the dead we foundthere, who had been half interr'd bythe country people.

The next morning our fort wasplann'd and mark'd out, thecircumference measuring fourhundred and fifty-five feet, whichwould require as many palisades tobe made of trees, one with another,of a foot diameter each. Our axes,of which we had seventy, wereimmediately set to work to cutdown trees, and, our men beingdexterous in the use of them, greatdespatch was made. Seeing thetrees fall so fast, I had the curiosityto look at my watch when two men

began to cut at a pine; in six minutesthey had it upon the ground, and Ifound it of fourteen inches diameter.Each pine made three palisades ofeighteen feet long, pointed at oneend. While these were preparing,our other men dug a trench allround, of three feet deep, in whichthe palisades were to be planted;and, our waggons, the bodys beingtaken off, and the fore and hindwheels separated by taking out thepin which united the two parts ofthe perch,[105] we had ten

carriages, with two horses each, tobring the palisades from the woodsto the spot. When they were set up,our carpenters built a stage ofboards all round within, about sixfeet high, for the men to stand onwhen to fire thro' the loopholes. Wehad one swivel gun, which wemounted on one of the angles, andfir'd it as soon as fix'd, to let theIndians know, if any were withinhearing, that we had such pieces;and thus our fort, if such amagnificent name may be given to

so miserable a stockade, wasfinish'd in a week, though it rain'dso hard every other day that the mencould not work.

Our axes ... were immediately set towork to cut down trees

"Our axes ... were immediatelyset to work to cut down trees"

This gave me occasion to observe,that, when men are employ'd, theyare best content'd; for on the daysthey worked they were good-natur'dand cheerful, and, with the

consciousness of having done agood day's work, they spent theevening jollily; but on our idle daysthey were mutinous andquarrelsome, finding fault with theirpork, the bread, etc., and incontinual ill-humour, which put mein mind of a sea-captain, whose ruleit was to keep his men constantly atwork; and, when his mate once toldhim that they had done everything,and there was nothing further toemploy them about, "Oh," says he,"make them scour the anchor."

This kind of fort, howevercontemptible, is a sufficient defenseagainst Indians, who have nocannon. Finding ourselves nowposted securely, and having a placeto retreat to on occasion, weventur'd out in parties to scour theadjacent country. We met with noIndians, but we found the places onthe neighbouring hills where theyhad lain to watch our proceedings.There was an art in theircontrivance of those places thatseems worth mention. It being

winter, a fire was necessary forthem; but a common fire on thesurface of the ground would by itslight have discover'd their positionat a distance. They had thereforedug holes in the ground about threefeet diameter, and somewhatdeeper; we saw where they hadwith their hatchets cut off thecharcoal from the sides of burntlogs lying in the woods. With thesecoals they had made small fires inthe bottom of the holes, and weobserv'd among the weeds and

grass the prints of their bodies,made by their laying all round, withtheir legs hanging down in the holesto keep their feet warm, which, withthem, is an essential point. Thiskind of fire, so manag'd, could notdiscover them, either by its light,flame, sparks, or even smoke: itappear'd that their number was notgreat, and it seems they saw wewere too many to be attacked bythem with prospect of advantage.

We had for our chaplain a zealousPresbyterian minister, Mr. Beatty,

who complained to me that the mendid not generally attend his prayersand exhortations. When theyenlisted, they were promised,besides pay and provisions, a gillof rum a day, which was punctuallyserv'd out to them, half in themorning, and the other half in theevening; and I observed they wereas punctual in attending to receiveit; upon which I said to Mr. Beatty,"It is, perhaps, below the dignity ofyour profession to act as steward ofthe rum, but if you were to deal it

out and only just after prayers, youwould have them all about you." Heliked the tho't, undertook the office,and, with the help of a few hands tomeasure out the liquor, executed itto satisfaction, and never wereprayers more generally and morepunctually attended; so that I thoughtthis method preferable to thepunishment inflicted by somemilitary laws for non-attendance ondivine service.

I had hardly finish'd this business,and got my fort well stor'd with

provisions, when I receiv'd a letterfrom the governor, acquainting methat he had call'd the Assembly, andwished my attendance there, if theposture of affairs on the frontierswas such that my remaining therewas no longer necessary. Myfriends, too, of the Assembly,pressing me by their letters to be, ifpossible, at the meeting, and mythree intended forts being nowcompleated, and the inhabitantscontented to remain on their farmsunder that protection, I resolved to

return; the more willingly, as a NewEngland officer, Colonel Clapham,experienced in Indian war, being ona visit to our establishment,consented to accept the command. Igave him a commission, and,parading the garrison, had it readbefore them, and introduc'd him tothem as an officer who, from hisskill in military affairs, was muchmore fit to command them thanmyself; and, giving them a littleexhortation, took my leave. I wasescorted as far as Bethlehem, where

I rested a few days to recover fromthe fatigue I had undergone. Thefirst night, being in a good bed, Icould hardly sleep, it was sodifferent from my hard lodging onthe floor of our hut at Gnaden wraptonly in a blanket or two.

While at Bethlehem, I inquir'd alittle into the practice of theMoravians: some of them hadaccompanied me, and all were verykind to me. I found they work'd for acommon stock, ate at commontables, and slept in common

dormitories, great numbers together.In the dormitories I observedloopholes, at certain distances allalong just under the ceiling, which Ithought judiciously placed forchange of air. I was at their church,where I was entertain'd with goodmusick, the organ beingaccompanied with violins,hautboys, flutes, clarinets, etc. Iunderstood that their sermons werenot usually preached to mixedcongregations of men, women, andchildren, as is our common

practice, but that they assembledsometimes the married men, at othertimes their wives, then the youngmen, the young women, and the littlechildren, each division by itself.The sermon I heard was to thelatter, who came in and were plac'din rows on benches; the boys underthe conduct of a young man, theirtutor, and the girls conducted by ayoung woman. The discourseseem'd well adapted to theircapacities, and was delivered in apleasing, familiar manner, coaxing

them, as it were, to be good. Theybehav'd very orderly, but lookedpale and unhealthy, which made mesuspect they were kept too muchwithin doors, or not allow'dsufficient exercise.

I inquir'd concerning the Moravianmarriages, whether the report wastrue that they were by lot. I was toldthat lots were us'd only in particularcases; that generally, when a youngman found himself dispos'd tomarry, he inform'd the elders of hisclass, who consulted the elder

ladies that govern'd the youngwomen. As these elders of thedifferent sexes were wellacquainted with the tempers anddispositions of their respectivepupils, they could best judge whatmatches were suitable, and theirjudgments were generallyacquiesc'd in; but if, for example, itshould happen that two or threeyoung women were found to beequally proper for the young man,the lot was then recurred to. Iobjected, if the matches are not

made by the mutual choice of theparties, some of them may chance tobe very unhappy. "And so theymay," answer'd my informer, "if youlet the parties chuse forthemselves;" which, indeed, I couldnot deny.

Being returned to Philadelphia, Ifound the association went onswimmingly, the inhabitants thatwere not Quakers having prettygenerally come into it, formedthemselves into companies, andchose their captains, lieutenants,

and ensigns, according to the newlaw. Dr. B. visited me, and gave mean account of the pains he had takento spread a general good liking tothe law, and ascribed much to thoseendeavours. I had had the vanity toascribe all to my Dialogue;however, not knowing but that hemight be in the right, I let him enjoyhis opinion, which I take to begenerally the best way in suchcases. The officers, meeting, choseme to be colonel of the regiment,which I this time accepted. I forget

how many companies we had, butwe paraded about twelve hundredwell-looking men, with a companyof artillery, who had been furnishedwith six brass field-pieces, whichthey had become so expert in theuse of as to fire twelve times in aminute. The first time I reviewedmy regiment they accompanied meto my house, and would salute mewith some rounds fired before mydoor, which shook down and brokeseveral glasses of my electricalapparatus. And my new honour

proved not much less brittle; for allour commissions were soon afterbroken by a repeal of the law inEngland.

During this short time of mycolonelship, being about to set outon a journey to Virginia, the officersof my regiment took it into theirheads that it would be proper forthem to escort me out of town, as faras the Lower Ferry. Just as I wasgetting on horseback they came tomy door, between thirty and forty,mounted, and all in their uniforms. I

had not been previously acquaintedwith the project, or I should haveprevented it, being naturally averseto the assuming of state on anyoccasion; and I was a good dealchagrin'd at their appearance, as Icould not avoid their accompanyingme. What made it worse was, that,as soon as we began to move, theydrew their swords and rode withthem naked all the way. Somebodywrote an account of this to theproprietor, and it gave him greatoffense. No such honour had been

paid him when in the province, norto any of his governors; and he saidit was only proper to princes of theblood royal, which may be true foraught I know, who was, and stillam, ignorant of the etiquette in suchcases.

This silly affair, however, greatlyincreased his rancour against me,which was before not a little, onaccount of my conduct in theAssembly respecting the exemptionof his estate from taxation, which Ihad always oppos'd very warmly,

and not without severe reflectionson his meanness and injustice ofcontending for it. He accused me tothe ministry as being the greatobstacle to the King's service,preventing, by my influence in theHouse, the proper form of the billsfor raising money, and he instancedthis parade with my officers as aproof of my having an intention totake the government of the provinceout of his hands by force. He alsoapplied to Sir Everard Fawkener,the postmaster-general, to deprive

me of my office; but it had no othereffect than to procure from SirEverard a gentle admonition.

Notwithstanding the continualwrangle between the governor andthe House, in which I, as a member,had so large a share, there stillsubsisted a civil intercoursebetween that gentleman and myself,and we never had any personaldifference. I have sometimes sincethought that his little or noresentment against me, for theanswers it was known I drew up to

his messages, might be the effect ofprofessional habit, and that, beingbred a lawyer, he might consider usboth as merely advocates forcontending clients in a suit, he forthe proprietaries and I for theAssembly. He would, therefore,sometimes call in a friendly way toadvise with me on difficult points,and sometimes, tho' not often, takemy advice.

We acted in concert to supplyBraddock's army with provisions;and, when the shocking news

arrived of his defeat, the governorsent in haste for me, to consult withhim on measures for preventing thedesertion of the back counties. Iforget now the advice I gave; but Ithink it was, that Dunbar should bewritten to, and prevail'd with, ifpossible, to post his troops on thefrontiers for their protection, till, byreinforcements from the colonies,he might be able to proceed on theexpedition. And, after my returnfrom the frontier, he would have hadme undertake the conduct of such an

expedition with provincial troops,for the reduction of Fort Duquesne,Dunbar and his men beingotherwise employed; and heproposed to commission me asgeneral. I had not so good anopinion of my military abilities ashe profess'd to have, and I believehis professions must have exceededhis real sentiments; but probably hemight think that my popularitywould facilitate the raising of themen, and my influence in Assembly,the grant of money to pay them, and

that, perhaps, without taxing theproprietary estate. Finding me notso forward to engage as heexpected, the project was dropt, andhe soon after left the government,being superseded by Captain Denny.

[103] Pronounced Gna´-den-hoot.

[104] Flint-lock guns, dischargedby means of a spark struckfrom flint and steel into powder(priming) in an open pan.

[105] Here the pole connecting

the front and rear wheels of awagon.

XVIII

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS

block-bEFORE I proceed inrelating the part I had in publicaffairs under this new governor'sadministration, it may not be amisshere to give some account of the

rise and progress of myphilosophical reputation.

In 1746, being at Boston, I met therewith a Dr. Spence, who was latelyarrived from Scotland, and show'dme some electric experiments. Theywere imperfectly perform'd, as hewas not very expert; but, being on asubject quite new to me, theyequally surpris'd and pleased me.Soon after my return toPhiladelphia, our library companyreceiv'd from Mr. P. Collinson,

Fellow of the Royal Society[106] ofLondon, a present of a glass tube,with some account of the use of it inmaking such experiments. I eagerlyseized the opportunity of repeatingwhat I had seen at Boston; and, bymuch practice, acquired greatreadiness in performing those, also,which we had an account of fromEngland, adding a number of newones. I say much practice, for myhouse was continually full, for sometime, with people who came to seethese new wonders.

To divide a little this incumbranceamong my friends, I caused anumber of similar tubes to be blownat our glass-house, with which theyfurnish'd themselves, so that we hadat length several performers.Among these, the principal was Mr.Kinnersley, an ingenious neighbour,who, being out of business, Iencouraged to undertake showingthe experiments for money, anddrew up for him two lectures, inwhich the experiments were rang'din such order, and accompanied

with such explanations in suchmethod, as that the foregoing shouldassist in comprehending thefollowing. He procur'd an elegantapparatus for the purpose, in whichall the little machines that I hadroughly made for myself werenicely form'd by instrument-makers.His lectures were well attended,and gave great satisfaction; andafter some time he went thro' thecolonies, exhibiting them in everycapital town, and pick'd up somemoney. In the West India islands,

indeed, it was with difficulty theexperiments could be made, fromthe general moisture of the air.

Oblig'd as we were to Mr.Collinson for his present of thetube, etc., I thought it right he shouldbe inform'd of our success in usingit, and wrote him several letterscontaining accounts of ourexperiments. He got them read inthe Royal Society, where they werenot at first thought worth so muchnotice as to be printed in theirTransactions. One paper, which I

wrote for Mr. Kinnersley, on thesameness of lightning withelectricity,[107] I sent to Dr.Mitchel, an acquaintance of mine,and one of the members also of thatsociety, who wrote me word that ithad been read, but was laughed atby the connoisseurs. The papers,however, being shown to Dr.Fothergill, he thought them of toomuch value to be stifled, andadvis'd the printing of them. Mr.Collinson then gave them to Cavefor publication in his Gentleman's

Magazine; but he chose to printthem separately in a pamphlet, andDr. Fothergill wrote the preface.Cave, it seems, judged rightly forhis profit, for by the additions thatarrived afterward, they swell'd to aquarto volume, which has had fiveeditions, and cost him nothing forcopy-money.

It was, however, some time beforethose papers were much takennotice of in England. A copy ofthem happening to fall into the

hands of the Count de Buffon,[108] aphilosopher deservedly of greatreputation in France, and, indeed,all over Europe, he prevailed withM. Dalibard[109] to translate theminto French, and they were printedat Paris. The publication offendedthe Abbé Nollet, preceptor inNatural Philosophy to the royalfamily, and an able experimenter,who had form'd and publish'd atheory of electricity, which then hadthe general vogue. He could not atfirst believe that such a work came

from America, and said it must havebeen fabricated by his enemies atParis, to decry his system.Afterwards, having been assur'dthat there really existed such aperson as Franklin at Philadelphia,which he had doubted, he wrote andpublished a volume of Letters,chiefly address'd to me, defendinghis theory, and denying the verity ofmy experiments, and of thepositions deduc'd from them.

I once purpos'd answering the abbé,and actually began the answer; but,

on consideration that my writingscontained a description ofexperiments which anyone mightrepeat and verify, and if not to beverifi'd, could not be defended; orof observations offer'd asconjectures, and not delivereddogmatically, therefore not layingme under any obligation to defendthem; and reflecting that a disputebetween two persons, writing indifferent languages, might belengthened greatly bymistranslations, and thence

misconceptions of one another'smeaning, much of one of the abbé'sletters being founded on an error inthe translation, I concluded to let mypapers shift for themselves,believing it was better to spendwhat time I could spare from publicbusiness in making newexperiments, than in disputing aboutthose already made. I thereforenever answered M. Nollet, and theevent gave me no cause to repentmy silence; for my friend M. le Roy,of the Royal Academy of Sciences,

took up my cause and refuted him;my book was translated into theItalian, German, and Latinlanguages; and the doctrine itcontain'd was by degreesuniversally adopted by thephilosophers of Europe, inpreference to that of the abbé; sothat he lived to see himself the lastof his sect, except Monsieur B——,of Paris, his élève and immediatedisciple.

What gave my book the moresudden and general celebrity, was

the success of one of its proposedexperiments, made by Messrs.Dalibard and De Lor at Marly, fordrawing lightning from the clouds.This engag'd the public attentioneverywhere. M. de Lor, who had anapparatus for experimentalphilosophy, and lectur'd in thatbranch of science, undertook torepeat what he called thePhiladelphia Experiments; and,after they were performed beforethe king and court, all the curious ofParis flocked to see them. I will not

swell this narrative with an accountof that capital experiment, nor of theinfinite pleasure I receiv'd in thesuccess of a similar one I madesoon after with a kite atPhiladelphia, as both are to befound in the histories of electricity.

Dr. Wright, an English physician,when at Paris, wrote to a friend,who was of the Royal Society, anaccount of the high esteem myexperiments were in among thelearned abroad, and of their wonderthat my writings had been so little

noticed in England. The society, onthis, resum'd the consideration ofthe letters that had been read tothem; and the celebrated Dr. Watsondrew up a summary account ofthem, and of all I had afterwardssent to England on the subject,which he accompanied with somepraise of the writer. This summarywas then printed in theirTransactions; and some members ofthe society in London, particularlythe very ingenious Mr. Canton,having verified the experiment of

procuring lightning from the cloudsby a pointed rod, and acquaintingthem with the success, they soonmade me more than amends for theslight with which they had beforetreated me. Without my having madeany application for that honour, theychose me a member, and voted that Ishould be excus'd the customarypayments, which would haveamounted to twenty-five guineas;and ever since have given me theirTransactions gratis. They alsopresented me with the gold medal of

Sir Godfrey Copley[110] for theyear 1753, the delivery of whichwas accompanied by a veryhandsome speech of the president,Lord Macclesfield, wherein I washighly honoured.

[106] The Royal Society ofLondon for Improving NaturalKnowledge was founded in1660 and holds the foremostplace among English societiesfor the advancement ofscience.

[107]See page 327.

[108] A celebrated Frenchnaturalist (1707-1788).

[109] Dalibard, who hadtranslated Franklin's letters toCollinson into French, was thefirst to demonstrate, in apractical application ofFranklin's experiment, thatlightning and electricity are thesame. "This was May 10th,1752, one month beforeFranklin flew his famous kite atPhiladelphia and proved thefact himself."—McMaster.

[110] An English baronet (died

in 1709), donator of a fund of£100, "in trust for the RoyalSociety of London forimproving natural knowledge."

the gold medal of Sir GodfreyCopley

XIX

AGENT OF PENNSYLVANIA INLONDON

block-OUR new governor, CaptainDenny, brought over for me thebefore mentioned medal from theRoyal Society, which he presentedto me at an entertainment given himby the city. He accompanied it withvery polite expressions of hisesteem for me, having, as he said,been long acquainted with mycharacter. After dinner, when thecompany, as was customary at thattime, were engag'd in drinking, hetook me aside into another room,and acquainted me that he had been

advis'd by his friends in England tocultivate a friendship with me, asone who was capable of giving himthe best advice, and of contributingmost effectually to the making hisadministration easy; that hetherefore desired of all things tohave a good understanding with me,and he begged me to be assured ofhis readiness on all occasions torender me every service that mightbe in his power. He said much tome, also, of the proprietor's gooddisposition towards the province,

and of the advantage it might be tous all, and to me in particular, if theopposition that had been so longcontinu'd to his measures was dropt,and harmony restor'd between himand the people; in effecting which,it was thought no one could be moreserviceable than myself; and I mightdepend on adequateacknowledgments and recompenses,etc., etc. The drinkers, finding wedid not return immediately to thetable, sent us a decanter of Madeira,which the governor made liberal

use of, and in proportion becamemore profuse of his solicitationsand promises.

My answers were to this purpose:that my circumstances, thanks toGod, were such as to makeproprietary favours unnecessary tome; and that, being a member of theAssembly, I could not possiblyaccept of any; that, however, I hadno personal enmity to theproprietary, and that, whenever thepublic measures he propos'd shouldappear to be for the good of the

people, no one should espouse andforward them more zealously thanmyself; my past opposition havingbeen founded on this, that themeasures which had been urgedwere evidently intended to serve theproprietary interest, with greatprejudice to that of the people; that Iwas much obliged to him (thegovernor) for his professions ofregard to me, and that he might relyon everything in my power to makehis administration as easy aspossible, hoping at the same time

that he had not brought with him thesame unfortunate instruction hispredecessor had been hamperedwith.

On this he did not then explainhimself; but when he afterwardscame to do business with theAssembly, they appear'd again, thedisputes were renewed, and I wasas active as ever in the opposition,being the penman, first, of therequest to have a communication ofthe instructions, and then of theremarks upon them, which may be

found in the votes of the time, and inthe Historical Review I afterwardpublish'd. But between uspersonally no enmity arose; wewere often together; he was a manof letters, had seen much of theworld, and was very entertainingand pleasing in conversation. Hegave me the first information thatmy old friend Jas. Ralph was stillalive; that he was esteem'd one ofthe best political writers inEngland; had been employed in thedispute[111] between Prince

Frederic and the king, and hadobtain'd a pension of three hundreda year; that his reputation wasindeed small as a poet, Pope havingdamned his poetry in the Dunciad,[112] but his prose was thought asgood as any man's.

The Assembly finally finding theproprietary obstinately persisted inmanacling their deputies withinstructions inconsistent not onlywith the privileges of the people,but with the service of the crown,

resolv'd to petition the king againstthem, and appointed me their agentto go over to England, to presentand support the petition. The Househad sent up a bill to the governor,granting a sum of sixty thousandpounds for the king's use (tenthousand pounds of which wassubjected to the orders of the thengeneral, Lord Loudoun), which thegovernor absolutely refus'd to pass,in compliance with his instructions.

I had agreed with Captain Morris,of the packet at New York, for my

passage, and my stores were put onboard, when Lord Loudoun arriv'dat Philadelphia, expressly, as hetold me, to endeavour anaccommodation between thegovernor and Assembly, that hismajesty's service might not beobstructed by their dissensions.Accordingly, he desir'd thegovernor and myself to meet him,that he might hear what was to besaid on both sides. We met anddiscussed the business. In behalf ofthe Assembly, I urged all the

various arguments that may be foundin the public papers of that time,which were of my writing, and areprinted with the minutes of theAssembly; and the governorpleaded his instructions, the bondhe had given to observe them, andhis ruin if he disobey'd, yet seemednot unwilling to hazard himself ifLord Loudoun would advise it. Thishis lordship did not chuse to do,though I once thought I had nearlyprevail'd with him to do it; butfinally he rather chose to urge the

compliance of the Assembly; and heentreated me to use my endeavourswith them for that purpose,declaring that he would spare noneof the king's troops for the defenseof our frontiers, and that, if we didnot continue to provide for thatdefense ourselves, they must remainexpos'd to the enemy.

I acquainted the House with whathad pass'd, and, presenting themwith a set of resolutions I haddrawn up, declaring our rights, andthat we did not relinquish our claim

to those rights, but only suspendedthe exercise of them on thisoccasion thro' force, against whichwe protested, they at length agreedto drop that bill, and frame anotherconformable to the proprietaryinstructions. This of course thegovernor pass'd, and I was then atliberty to proceed on my voyage.But, in the meantime, the packet hadsailed with my sea-stores, whichwas some loss to me, and my onlyrecompense was his lordship'sthanks for my service, all the credit

of obtaining the accommodationfalling to his share.

He set out for New York before me;and, as the time for dispatching thepacket-boats was at his disposition,and there were two then remainingthere, one of which, he said, was tosail very soon, I requested to knowthe precise time, that I might notmiss her by any delay of mine. Hisanswer was, "I have given out thatshe is to sail on Saturday next; but Imay let you know, entre nous, that ifyou are there by Monday morning,

you will be in time, but do not delaylonger." By some accidentalhindrance at a ferry, it was Mondaynoon before I arrived, and I wasmuch afraid she might have sailed,as the wind was fair; but I was soonmade easy by the information thatshe was still in the harbor, andwould not move till the next day.One would imagine that I was nowon the very point of departing forEurope. I thought so; but I was notthen so well acquainted with hislordship's character, of which

indecision was one of the strongestfeatures. I shall give someinstances. It was about thebeginning of April that I came toNew York, and I think it was nearthe end of June before we sail'd.There were then two of the packet-boats, which had been long in port,but were detained for the general'sletters, which were always to beready to-morrow. Another packetarriv'd; she too was detain'd; and,before we sail'd, a fourth wasexpected. Ours was the first to be

dispatch'd, as having been therelongest. Passengers were engagedin all, and some extremely impatientto be gone, and the merchantsuneasy about their letters, and theorders they had given for insurance(it being war time) for fall goods;but their anxiety avail'd nothing; hislordship's letters were not ready;and yet whoever waited on himfound him always at his desk, pen inhand, and concluded he must needswrite abundantly.

Going myself one morning to pay

my respects, I found in hisantechamber one Innis, a messengerof Philadelphia, who had comefrom thence express with a packetfrom Governor Denny for thegeneral. He delivered to me someletters from my friends there, whichoccasion'd my inquiring when hewas to return, and where he lodg'd,that I might send some letters byhim. He told me he was order'd tocall to-morrow at nine for thegeneral's answer to the governor,and should set off immediately. I put

my letters into his hands the sameday. A fortnight after I met himagain in the same place. "So, youare soon return'd, Innis?" "Return'd!no, I am not gone yet." "How so?""I have called here by order everymorning these two weeks past forhis lordship's letter, and it is not yetready." "Is it possible, when he isso great a writer? for I see himconstantly at his escritoire." "Yes,"says Innis, "but he is like St. Georgeon the signs, always on horseback,and never rides on." This

observation of the messenger was,it seems, well founded; for, when inEngland, I understood that Mr.Pitt[113] gave it as one reason forremoving this general, and sendingGenerals Amherst and Wolfe, thatthe minister never heard from him,and could not know what he wasdoing.

This daily expectation of sailing,and all the three packets goingdown to Sandy Hook, to join thefleet there, the passengers thought it

best to be on board, lest by asudden order the ships should sail,and they be left behind. There, if Iremember right, we were about sixweeks, consuming our sea-stores,and oblig'd to procure more. Atlength the fleet sail'd, the generaland all his army on board, bound toLouisburg, with the intent to besiegeand take that fortress; all the packet-boats in company ordered to attendthe general's ship, ready to receivehis dispatches when they should beready. We were out five days before

we got a letter with leave to part,and then our ship quitted the fleetand steered for England. The othertwo packets he still detained,carried them with him to Halifax,where he stayed some time toexercise the men in sham attacksupon sham forts, then altered hismind as to besieging Louisburg, andreturned to New York, with all histroops, together with the twopackets above mentioned, and alltheir passengers! During hisabsence the French and savages had

taken Fort George, on the frontier ofthat province, and the savages hadmassacred many of the garrisonafter capitulation.

I saw afterwards in London CaptainBonnell, who commanded one ofthose packets. He told me that,when he had been detain'd a month,he acquainted his lordship that hisship was grown foul, to a degreethat must necessarily hinder her fastsailing, a point of consequence for apacket-boat, and requested anallowance of time to heave her

down and clean her bottom. He wasasked how long time that wouldrequire. He answered, three days.The general replied, "If you can doit in one day, I give leave;otherwise not; for you mustcertainly sail the day after to-morrow." So he never obtain'dleave, though detained afterwardsfrom day to day during full threemonths.

I saw also in London one ofBonnell's passengers, who was soenrag'd against his lordship for

deceiving and detaining him so longat New York, and then carrying himto Halifax and back again, that heswore he would sue him fordamages. Whether he did or not, Inever heard; but, as he representedthe injury to his affairs, it was veryconsiderable.

On the whole, I wonder'd much howsuch a man came to beintrusted[114] with so important abusiness as the conduct of a greatarmy; but, having since seen more

of the great world, and the means ofobtaining, and motives for givingplaces, my wonder is diminished.General Shirley, on whom thecommand of the army devolvedupon the death of Braddock, would,in my opinion, if continued in place,have made a much better campaignthan that of Loudoun in 1757, whichwas frivolous, expensive, anddisgraceful to our nation beyondconception; for, tho' Shirley was nota bred soldier, he was sensible andsagacious in himself, and attentive

to good advice from others, capableof forming judicious plans, andquick and active in carrying theminto execution. Loudoun, instead ofdefending the colonies with hisgreat army, left them totally expos'dwhile he paraded idly at Halifax, bywhich means Fort George was lost,besides, he derang'd all ourmercantile operations, anddistress'd our trade, by a longembargo on the exportation ofprovisions, on pretence of keepingsupplies from being obtain'd by the

enemy, but in reality for beatingdown their price in favour of thecontractors, in whose profits, it wassaid, perhaps from suspicion only,he had a share. And, when at lengththe embargo was taken off, byneglecting to send notice of it toCharlestown, the Carolina fleet wasdetain'd near three months longer,whereby their bottoms were somuch damaged by the worm that agreat part of them foundered in theirpassage home.

Shirley was, I believe, sincerely

glad of being relieved from soburdensome a charge as the conductof an army must be to a manunacquainted with militarybusiness. I was at the entertainmentgiven by the city of New York toLord Loudoun, on his taking uponhim the command. Shirley, tho'thereby superseded, was presentalso. There was a great company ofofficers, citizens, and strangers,and, some chairs having beenborrowed in the neighborhood,there was one among them very

low, which fell to the lot of Mr.Shirley. Perceiving it as I sat byhim, I said, "They have given you,sir, too low a seat." "No matter,"says he, "Mr. Franklin, I find a lowseat the easiest."

While I was, as afore mention'd,detain'd at New York, I receiv'd allthe accounts of the provisions, etc.,that I had furnish'd to Braddock,some of which accounts could notsooner be obtain'd from thedifferent persons I had employ'd toassist in the business. I presented

them to Lord Loudoun, desiring tobe paid the balance. He caus'd themto be regularly examined by theproper officer, who, aftercomparing every article with itsvoucher, certified them to be right;and the balance due for which hislordship promis'd to give me anorder on the paymaster. This was,however, put off from time to time;and tho' I call'd often for it byappointment, I did not get it. Atlength, just before my departure, hetold me he had, on better

consideration, concluded not to mixhis accounts with those of hispredecessors. "And you," says he,"when in England, have only toexhibit your accounts at the treasury,and you will be paid immediately."

I mention'd, but without effect, thegreat and unexpected expense I hadbeen put to by being detain'd solong at New York, as a reason formy desiring to be presently paid;and on my observing that it was notright I should be put to any furthertrouble or delay in obtaining the

money I had advanc'd, as I chargedno commission for my service, "O,Sir," says he, "you must not think ofpersuading us that you are nogainer; we understand better thoseaffairs, and know that every oneconcerned in supplying the armyfinds means, in the doing it, to fillhis own pockets." I assur'd him thatwas not my case, and that I had notpocketed a farthing; but he appear'dclearly not to believe me; and,indeed, I have since learnt thatimmense fortunes are often made in

such employments. As to mybalance, I am not paid it to this day,of which more hereafter.

Our captain of the packet hadboasted much, before we sailed, ofthe swiftness of his ship;unfortunately, when we came to sea,she proved the dullest of ninety-sixsail, to his no small mortification.After many conjectures respectingthe cause, when we were nearanother ship almost as dull as ours,which, however, gain'd upon us, thecaptain ordered all hands to come

aft, and stand as near the ensignstaff as possible. We were,passengers included, about fortypersons. While we stood there, theship mended her pace, and soon lefther neighbour far behind, whichprov'd clearly what our captainsuspected, that she was loaded toomuch by the head. The casks ofwater, it seems, had been all plac'dforward; these he therefore order'dto be mov'd further aft, on which theship recover'd her character, andproved the best sailer in the fleet.

The captain said she had once goneat the rate of thirteen knots, which isaccounted thirteen miles per hour.We had on board, as a passenger,Captain Kennedy, of the Navy, whocontended that it was impossible,and that no ship ever sailed so fast,and that there must have been someerror in the division of the log-line,or some mistake in heaving the log.[115] A wager ensu'd between thetwo captains, to be decided whenthere should be sufficient wind.Kennedy thereupon examin'd

rigorously the log-line, and, beingsatisfi'd with that, he determin'd tothrow the log himself. Accordinglysome days after, when the windblew very fair and fresh, and thecaptain of the packet, Lutwidge,said he believ'd she then went at therate of thirteen knots, Kennedymade the experiment, and own'd hiswager lost.

The above fact I give for the sake ofthe following observation. It hasbeen remark'd, as an imperfection inthe art of ship-building, that it can

never be known, till she is tried,whether a new ship will or will notbe a good sailer; for that the modelof a good-sailing ship has beenexactly follow'd in a new one,which has prov'd, on the contrary,remarkably dull. I apprehend thatthis may partly be occasion'd by thedifferent opinions of seamenrespecting the modes of lading,rigging, and sailing of a ship; eachhas his system; and the same vessel,laden by the judgment and orders ofone captain, shall sail better or

worse than when by the orders ofanother. Besides, it scarce everhappens that a ship is form'd, fittedfor the sea, and sail'd by the sameperson. One man builds the hull,another rigs her, a third lades andsails her. No one of these has theadvantage of knowing all the ideasand experience of the others, and,therefore, cannot draw justconclusions from a combination ofthe whole.

Even in the simple operation ofsailing when at sea, I have often

observ'd different judgments in theofficers who commanded thesuccessive watches, the wind beingthe same. One would have the sailstrimm'd sharper or flatter thananother, so that they seem'd to haveno certain rule to govern by. Yet Ithink a set of experiments might beinstituted; first, to determine themost proper form of the hull forswift sailing; next, the bestdimensions and properest place forthe masts; then the form and quantityof sails, and their position, as the

wind may be; and, lastly, thedisposition of the lading. This is anage of experiments, and I think a setaccurately made and combin'dwould be of great use. I ampersuaded, therefore, that ere longsome ingenious philosopher willundertake it, to whom I wishsuccess.

Sailboat

We were several times chas'd in ourpassage, but out-sail'd every thing,and in thirty days had soundings. We

had a good observation, and thecaptain judg'd himself so near ourport, Falmouth, that, if we made agood run in the night, we might beoff the mouth of that harbor in themorning, and by running in the nightmight escape the notice of theenemy's privateers, who oftencruis'd near the entrance of thechannel. Accordingly, all the sailwas set that we could possiblymake, and the wind being very freshand fair, we went right before it,and made great way. The captain,

after his observation, shap'd hiscourse, as he thought, so as to passwide of the Scilly Isles; but it seemsthere is sometimes a strongindraught setting up St. George'sChannel, which deceives seamenand caused the loss of SirCloudesley Shovel's squadron. Thisindraught was probably the cause ofwhat happened to us.

We had a watchman plac'd in thebow, to whom they often called,"Look well out before there," andhe as often answered, "Ay, ay"; but

perhaps had his eyes shut, and washalf asleep at the time, theysometimes answering, as is said,mechanically; for he did not see alight just before us, which had beenhid by the studding-sails from theman at the helm, and from the rest ofthe watch, but by an accidental yawof the ship was discover'd, andoccasion'd a great alarm, we beingvery near it, the light appearing tome as big as a cartwheel. It wasmidnight, and our captain fastasleep; but Captain Kennedy,

jumping upon deck, and seeing thedanger, ordered the ship to wearround, all sails standing; anoperation dangerous to the masts,but it carried us clear, and weescaped shipwreck, for we wererunning right upon the rocks onwhich the lighthouse was erected.This deliverance impressed mestrongly with the utility oflighthouses, and made me resolve toencourage the building more of themin America if I should live to returnthere.

In the morning it was found by thesoundings, etc., that we were nearour port, but a thick fog hid the landfrom our sight. About nine o'clockthe fog began to rise, and seem'd tobe lifted up from the water like thecurtain at a play-house, discoveringunderneath, the town of Falmouth,the vessels in its harbor, and thefields that surrounded it. This was amost pleasing spectacle to thosewho had been so long without anyother prospects than the uniformview of a vacant ocean, and it gave

us the more pleasure as we werenow free from the anxieties whichthe state of war occasion'd.

I set out immediately, with my son,for London, and we only stopt alittle by the way to viewStonehenge[116] on Salisbury Plain,and Lord Pembroke's house andgardens, with his very curiousantiquities at Wilton. We arrived inLondon the 27th of July, 1757.[117]

As soon as I was settled in alodging Mr. Charles had provided

for me, I went to visit Dr.Fothergill, to whom I was stronglyrecommended, and whose counselrespecting my proceedings I wasadvis'd to obtain. He was against animmediate complaint to government,and thought the proprietaries shouldfirst be personally appli'd to, whomight possibly be induc'd by theinterposition and persuasion ofsome private friends, toaccommodate matters amicably. Ithen waited on my old friend andcorrespondent, Mr. Peter Collinson,

who told me that John Hanbury, thegreat Virginia merchant, hadrequested to be informed when Ishould arrive, that he might carryme to Lord Granville's,[118] whowas then President of the Counciland wished to see me as soon aspossible. I agreed to go with himthe next morning. Accordingly Mr.Hanbury called for me and took mein his carriage to that nobleman's,who receiv'd me with great civility;and after some questions respectingthe present state of affairs in

America and discourse thereupon,he said to me: "You Americans havewrong ideas of the nature of yourconstitution; you contend that theking's instructions to his governorsare not laws, and think yourselvesat liberty to regard or disregardthem at your own discretion. Butthose instructions are not like thepocket instructions given to aminister going abroad, forregulating his conduct in sometrifling point of ceremony. They arefirst drawn up by judges learned in

the laws; they are then considered,debated, and perhaps amended inCouncil, after which they are signedby the king. They are then, so far asthey relate to you, the law of theland, for the king is the LEGISLATOR

OF THE COLONIES,"[119] I told hislordship this was new doctrine tome. I had always understood fromour charters that our laws were tobe made by our Assemblies, to bepresented indeed to the king for hisroyal assent, but that being oncegiven the king could not repeal or

alter them. And as the Assembliescould not make permanent lawswithout his assent, so neither couldhe make a law for them withouttheirs. He assur'd me I was totallymistaken. I did not think so,however, and his lordship'sconversation having a little alarm'dme as to what might be thesentiments of the court concerningus, I wrote it down as soon as Ireturn'd to my lodgings. Irecollected that about 20 yearsbefore, a clause in a bill brought

into Parliament by the ministry hadpropos'd to make the king'sinstructions laws in the colonies,but the clause was thrown out by theCommons, for which we adoredthem as our friends and friends ofliberty, till by their conduct towardsus in 1765 it seem'd that they hadrefus'd that point of sovereignty tothe king only that they might reserveit for themselves.

With his keen insight into humannature and his consequentknowledge of American character,

he foresaw the inevitable result ofsuch an attitude on the part ofEngland. This conversation withGrenville makes these last pages ofthe Autobiography one of its mostimportant parts.

After some days, Dr. Fothergillhaving spoken to the proprietaries,they agreed to a meeting with me atMr. T. Penn's house in SpringGarden. The conversation at firstconsisted of mutual declarations ofdisposition to reasonableaccommodations, but I suppose

each party had its own ideas ofwhat should be meant byreasonable. We then went intoconsideration of our several pointsof complaint, which I enumerated.The proprietaries justify'd theirconduct as well as they could, and Ithe Assembly's. We now appearedvery wide, and so far from eachother in our opinions as todiscourage all hope of agreement.However, it was concluded that Ishould give them the heads of ourcomplaints in writing, and they

promis'd then to consider them. Idid so soon after, but they put thepaper into the hands of theirsolicitor, Ferdinand John Paris,who managed for them all their lawbusiness in their great suit with theneighbouring proprietary ofMaryland, Lord Baltimore, whichhad subsisted 70 years, and wrotefor them all their papers andmessages in their dispute with theAssembly. He was a proud, angryman, and as I had occasionally inthe answers of the Assembly treated

his papers with some severity, theybeing really weak in point ofargument and haughty in expression,he had conceived a mortal enmity tome, which discovering itselfwhenever we met, I declin'd theproprietary's proposal that he and Ishould discuss the heads ofcomplaint between our two selves,and refus'd treating with anyone butthem. They then by his advice putthe paper into the hands of theAttorney and Solicitor-General fortheir opinion and counsel upon it,

where it lay unanswered a yearwanting eight days, during whichtime I made frequent demands of ananswer from the proprietaries, butwithout obtaining any other than thatthey had not yet received theopinion of the Attorney andSolicitor-General. What it waswhen they did receive it I neverlearnt, for they did not communicateit to me, but sent a long message tothe Assembly drawn and signed byParis, reciting my paper,complaining of its want of

formality, as a rudeness on my part,and giving a flimsy justification oftheir conduct, adding that theyshould be willing to accommodatematters if the Assembly would sendout some person of candour to treatwith them for that purpose,intimating thereby that I was notsuch.

We now appeared very wide, andso far from each other in our

opinions as to discourage all hopeof agreement

"We now appeared very wide,and so far from each other inour opinions as to discourage

all hope of agreement"

The want of formality or rudenesswas, probably, my not havingaddress'd the paper to them withtheir assum'd titles of True andAbsolute Proprietaries of theProvince of Pennsylvania, which I

omitted as not thinking it necessaryin a paper, the intention of whichwas only to reduce to a certainty bywriting, what in conversation I haddelivered viva voce.

But during this delay, the Assemblyhaving prevailed with Gov'r Dennyto pass an act taxing the proprietaryestate in common with the estates ofthe people, which was the grandpoint in dispute, they omittedanswering the message.

When this act however came over,

the proprietaries, counselled byParis, determined to oppose itsreceiving the royal assent.Accordingly they petitioned the kingin Council, and a hearing wasappointed in which two lawyerswere employ'd by them against theact, and two by me in support of it.They alledg'd that the act wasintended to load the proprietaryestate in order to spare those of thepeople, and that if it were suffer'dto continue in force, and theproprietaries, who were in odium

with the people, left to their mercyin proportioning the taxes, theywould inevitably be ruined. Wereply'd that the act had no suchintention, and would have no sucheffect. That the assessors werehonest and discreet men under anoath to assess fairly and equitably,and that any advantage each of themmight expect in lessening his owntax by augmenting that of theproprietaries was too trifling toinduce them to perjure themselves.This is the purport of what I

remember as urged by both sides,except that we insisted strongly onthe mischievous consequences thatmust attend a repeal, for that themoney, £100,000, being printed andgiven to the king's use, expended inhis service, and now spread amongthe people, the repeal would strikeit dead in their hands to the ruin ofmany, and the total discouragementof future grants, and the selfishnessof the proprietors in soliciting sucha general catastrophe, merely froma groundless fear of their estate

being taxed too highly, was insistedon in the strongest terms. On this,Lord Mansfield, one of the counsel,rose, and beckoning me took meinto the clerk's chamber, while thelawyers were pleading, and askedme if I was really of opinion that noinjury would be done theproprietary estate in the executionof the act. I said certainly. "Then,"says he, "you can have littleobjection to enter into anengagement to assure that point." Ianswer'd, "None at all." He then

call'd in Paris, and after somediscourse, his lordship'sproposition was accepted on bothsides; a paper to the purpose wasdrawn up by the Clerk of theCouncil, which I sign'd with Mr.Charles, who was also an Agent ofthe Province for their ordinaryaffairs, when Lord Mansfieldreturned to the Council Chamber,where finally the law was allowedto pass. Some changes werehowever recommended and we alsoengaged they should be made by a

subsequent law, but the Assemblydid not think them necessary; forone year's tax having been levied bythe act before the order of Councilarrived, they appointed a committeeto examine the proceedings of theassessors, and on this committeethey put several particular friendsof the proprietaries. After a fullenquiry, they unanimously sign'd areport that they found the tax hadbeen assess'd with perfect equity.

The Assembly looked into myentering into the first part of the

engagement, as an essential serviceto the Province, since it secured thecredit of the paper money thenspread over all the country. Theygave me their thanks in form when Ireturn'd. But the proprietaries wereenraged at Governor Denny forhaving pass'd the act, and turn'd himout with threats of suing him forbreach of instructions which he hadgiven bond to observe. He,however, having done it at theinstance of the General, and for HisMajesty's service, and having some

powerful interest at court, despis'dthe threats and they were never putin execution.... [unfinished]

[111] Quarrel between George IIand his son, Frederick, Princeof Wales, who died before hisfather.

[112] A satirical poem byAlexander Pope directedagainst various contemporarywriters.

[113] William Pitt, first Earl ofChatham (1708-1778), a greatEnglish statesman and orator.

Under his able administration,England won Canada fromFrance. He was a friend ofAmerica at the time of ourRevolution.

[114] This relation illustrates thecorruption that characterizedEnglish public life in theeighteenth century. (See page308). It was graduallyovercome in the early part ofthe next century.

[115] A piece of wood shapedand weighted so as to keep itstable when in the water. To

this is attached a line knotted atregular distances. By thesedevices it is possible to tell thespeed of a ship.

[116] A celebrated prehistoricruin, probably of a temple builtby the early Britons, nearSalisbury, England. It consistsof inner and outer circles ofenormous stones, some ofwhich are connected by stoneslabs.

[117] "Here terminates theAutobiography, as publishedby Wm. Temple Franklin and

his successors. What followswas written in the last year ofDr. Franklin's life, and wasnever before printed inEnglish."—Mr. Bigelow's notein his edition of 1868.

[118] George Granville orGrenville (1712-1770). AsEnglish premier from 1763 to1765, he introduced the directtaxation of the AmericanColonies and has sometimesbeen called the immediatecause of the Revolution.

[119] This whole passage shows

how hopelessly divergent werethe English and Americanviews on the relations betweenthe mother country and hercolonies. Grenville here madeclear that the Americans wereto have no voice in making oramending their laws.Parliament and the king wereto have absolute power overthe colonies. No wonderFranklin was alarmed by thisnew doctrine.

Medal with inscription: BENJ.FRANLIN NATUS BOSTON XVII,

JAN. MDCCVI.

APPENDIX

ELECTRICAL KITE

TO PETER COLLINSON

[Philadelphia], Oct. 19, 1752.

SIR,

As frequent mention is made inpublic papers from Europe of thesuccess of the Philadelphiaexperiment for drawing the electricfire from clouds by means ofpointed rods of iron erected on highbuildings, &c., it may be agreeableto the curious to be informed, thatthe same experiment has succeededin Philadelphia, though made in adifferent and more easy manner,which is as follows:

Make a small cross of two lightstrips of cedar, the arms so long asto reach to the four corners of alarge, thin silk handkerchief whenextended; tie the corners of thehandkerchief to the extremities ofthe cross, so you have the body of akite; which being properlyaccommodated with a tail, loop,and string, will rise in the air, likethose made of paper; but this beingof silk, is fitter to bear the wet andwind of a thunder-gust withouttearing. To the top of the upright

stick of the cross is to be fixed avery sharp-pointed wire, rising afoot or more above the wood. Tothe end of the twine, next the hand,is to be tied a silk ribbon, andwhere the silk and twine join, a keymay be fastened. This kite is to beraised when a thunder-gust appearsto be coming on, and the personwho holds the string must standwithin a door or window, or undersome cover, so that the silk ribbonmay not be wet; and care must betaken that the twine does not touch

the frame of the door or window.As soon as any of the thunderclouds come over the kite, thepointed wire will draw the electricfire from them, and the kite, with allthe twine will be electrified, andthe loose filaments of the twine willstand out every way and beattracted by an approaching finger.And when the rain has wet the kiteand twine, so that it can conduct theelectric fire freely, you will find itstream out plentifully from the keyon the approach of your knuckle. At

this key the phial may be charged;and from electric fire thus obtained,spirits may be kindled, and all theelectric experiments be performed,which are usually done by the helpof a rubbed glass globe or tube, andthereby the sameness of the electricmatter with that of lightningcompletely demonstrated.

B. FRANKLIN.

You will find it stream outplentifully from the key on the

approach of your knuckle

"You will find it stream outplentifully from the key on the

approach of your knuckle"

Father Abraham in his Study

Father Abraham in his STUDY.

From "Father Abraham's Speech,"1760. Reproduced from a copy atthe New York Public Library.

THE WAY TO WEALTH

(From "Father Abraham's Speech,"forming the preface to PoorRichard's Almanac for 1758.)

It would be thought a hardGovernment that should tax itsPeople one-tenth Part of their Time,to be employed in its Service. ButIdleness taxes many of us muchmore, if we reckon all that is spentin absolute Sloth, or doing ofnothing, with that which is spent inidle Employments or Amusements,that amount to nothing. Sloth, bybringing on Diseases, absolutely

shortens Life. Sloth, like Rust,consumes faster than Labor wears;while the used key is alwaysbright, as Poor Richard says. Butdost thou love Life, then do notsquander Time, for that's the stuffLife is made of, as Poor Richardsays. How much more than isnecessary do we spend in sleep,forgetting that The sleeping Foxcatches no Poultry, and that Therewill be sleeping enough in theGrave, as Poor Richard says.

If Time be of all Things the most

precious, wasting Time must be, asPoor Richard says, the greatestProdigality; since, as he elsewheretells us, Lost Time is never foundagain; and what we call Timeenough, always proves littleenough: Let us then up and bedoing, and doing to the Purpose; soby Diligence shall we do more withless Perplexity. Sloth makes allThings difficult, but Industry alleasy, as Poor Richard says; and Hethat riseth late must trot all Day,and shall scarce overtake his

Business at Night; while Lazinesstravels so slowly, that Povertysoon overtakes him, as we read inPoor Richard, who adds, Drive thyBusiness, let not that drive thee;and Early to Bed, and early to rise,makes a Man healthy, wealthy, andwise.

Industry need not wish, and he thatlives upon Hope will die fasting.

There are no Gains without Pains.

He that hath a Trade hath an

Estate; and he that hath a Calling,hath an Office of Profit and Honor;but then the Trade must be workedat, and the Calling well followed,or neither the Estate nor the Officewill enable us to pay our Taxes.

What though you have found noTreasure, nor has any rich Relationleft you a Legacy, Diligence is theMother of Good-luck, as PoorRichard says, and God gives allThings to Industry.

One To-day is worth two To-

morrows, and farther, Have yousomewhat to do To-morrow, do itTo-day.

If you were a Servant, would younot be ashamed that a good Mastershould catch you idle? Are you thenyour own Master, be ashamed tocatch yourself idle.

Stick to it steadily; and you will seegreat Effects, for ConstantDropping wears away Stones, andby Diligence and Patience theMouse ate in two the Cable; and

Little Strokes fell great Oaks.

Methinks I hear some of you say,Must a Man afford himself noLeisure? I will tell thee, my friend,what Poor Richard says, Employthy Time well, if thou meanest togain Leisure; and, since thou artnot sure of a Minute, throw notaway an Hour. Leisure, is Time fordoing something useful; this Leisurethe diligent Man will obtain, but thelazy Man never; so that, as PoorRichard says, A Life of Leisure anda Life of Laziness are two things.

Keep thy Shop, and thy Shop willkeep thee; and again, If you wouldhave your business done, go; ifnot, send.

If you would have a faithfulServant, and one that you like, serveyourself.

A little Neglect may breed greatMischief: adding, for want of aNail the Shoe was lost; for want ofa Shoe the Horse was lost; and forwant of a Horse the Rider was lost,being overtaken and slain by the

Enemy; all for the want of Careabout a Horse-shoe Nail.

So much for Industry, my Friends,and Attention to one's ownBusiness; but to these we must addFrugality.

What maintains one Vice, wouldbring up two Children. You maythink perhaps, that a little Tea, or alittle Punch now and then, Diet alittle more costly, Clothes a littlefiner, and a little Entertainment nowand then, can be no great Matter;

but remember what Poor Richardsays, Many a Little makes aMickle.

Beware of little expenses; A smallLeak will sink a great Ship; andagain, Who Dainties love, shallBeggars prove; and moreover,Fools make Feasts, and wise Meneat them.

Buy what thou hast no Need of, andere long thou shalt sell thyNecessaries.

If you would know the Value ofMoney, go and try to borrow some;for, he that goes a borrowing goes asorrowing.

The second Vice is Lying, the firstis running in Debt.

Lying rides upon Debt's Back.

Poverty often deprives a Man of allSpirit and Virtue: 'Tis hard for anempty Bag to stand upright.

And now to conclude, Experiencekeeps a dear School, but Fools will

learn in no other, and scarce inthat; for it is true, we may giveAdvice, but we cannot giveConduct, as Poor Richard says:However, remember this, They thatwon't be counseled, can't behelped, as Poor Richard says: andfarther, That if you will not hearReason, she'll surely rap yourKnuckles.

THE WHISTLE

TO MADAME BRILLON

PASSY, November 10, 1779.

I am charmed with your descriptionof Paradise, and with your plan ofliving there; and I approve much ofyour conclusion, that, in themeantime, we should draw all thegood we can from this world. In myopinion, we might all draw moregood from it than we do, and sufferless evil, if we would take care notto give too much for whistles. Forto me it seems, that most of the

unhappy people we meet with, arebecome so by neglect of thatcaution.

You ask what I mean? You lovestories, and will excuse my tellingone of myself.

When I was a child of seven yearold, my friends, on a holiday, filledmy pocket with coppers. I wentdirectly to a shop where they soldtoys for children; and beingcharmed with the sound of awhistle, that I met by the way in the

hands of another boy, I voluntarilyoffered and gave all my money forone. I then came home, and wentwhistling all over the house, muchpleased with my whistle, butdisturbing all the family. Mybrothers, and sisters, and cousins,understanding the bargain I hadmade, told me I had given fourtimes as much for it as it was worth;put me in mind what good things Imight have bought with the rest ofthe money; and laughed at me somuch for my folly, that I cried with

vexation; and the reflection gave memore chagrin than the whistle gaveme pleasure.

This, however, was afterwards ofuse to me, the impression continuingon my mind; so that often, when Iwas tempted to buy someunnecessary thing, I said to myself,Don't give too much for thewhistle; and I saved my money.

As I grew up, came into the world,and observed the actions of men, Ithought I met with many, very many,

who gave too much for the whistle.

When I saw one too ambitious ofcourt favor, sacrificing his time inattendance on levees, his repose,his liberty, his virtue, and perhapshis friends, to attain it, I have saidto myself, This man gives too muchfor his whistle.

When I saw another fond ofpopularity, constantly employinghimself in political bustles,neglecting his own affairs, andruining them by neglect, He pays,

indeed, said I, too much for hiswhistle.

If I knew a miser who gave upevery kind of comfortable living, allthe pleasure of doing good toothers, all the esteem of his fellowcitizens, and the joys of benevolentfriendship, for the sake ofaccumulating wealth, Poor man,said I, you pay too much for yourwhistle.

When I met with a man of pleasure,sacrificing every laudable

improvement of the mind, or of hisfortune, to mere corporealsensations, and ruining his health intheir pursuit, Mistaken man, said I,you are providing pain foryourself, instead of pleasure; yougive too much for your whistle.

If I see one fond of appearance, orfine clothes, fine houses, finefurniture, fine equipages, all abovehis fortune, for which he contractsdebts, and ends his career in aprison, Alas! say I, he has paiddear, very dear, for his whistle.

When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured brute of a husband, What apity, say I, that she should pay somuch for a whistle!

In short, I conceive that great part ofthe miseries of mankind are broughtupon them by the false estimatesthey have made of the value ofthings, and by their giving too muchfor their whistles.

Yet I ought to have charity for theseunhappy people, when I consider,

that, with all this wisdom of which Iam boasting, there are certain thingsin the world so tempting, forexample, the apples of King John,which happily are not to be bought;for if they were put to sale byauction, I might very easily be ledto ruin myself in the purchase, andfind that I had once more given toomuch for the whistle.

Adieu, my dear friend, and believeme ever yours very sincerely andwith unalterable affection,

B. FRANKLIN.

A LETTER TO SAMUELMATHER

PASSY, May 12, 1784.

REVD SIR,

It is now more than 60 years since Ileft Boston, but I remember wellboth your father and grandfather,

having heard them both in the pulpit,and seen them in their houses. Thelast time I saw your father was inthe beginning of 1724, when Ivisited him after my first trip toPennsylvania. He received me inhis library, and on my taking leaveshowed me a shorter way out of thehouse through a narrow passage,which was crossed by a beamoverhead. We were still talking as Iwithdrew, he accompanying mebehind, and I turning partly towardshim, when he said hastily, "Stoop,

stoop!" I did not understand him, tillI felt my head hit against the beam.He was a man that never missed anyoccasion of giving instruction, andupon this he said to me, "You areyoung, and have the world beforeyou; stoop as you go through it,and you will miss many hardthumps." This advice, thus beat intomy head, has frequently been of useto me; and I often think of it, when Isee pride mortified, and misfortunesbrought upon people by theircarrying their heads too high.

B. FRANKLIN.

THE END

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The last and most complete editionof Franklin's works is that by thelate Professor Albert H. Smyth,published in ten volumes by theMacmillan Company, New York,under the title, The Writings of

Benjamin Franklin. The otherstandard edition is the Works ofBenjamin Franklin by JohnBigelow (New York, 1887). Mr.Bigelow's first edition of theAutobiography in one volume waspublished by the J. B. LippincottCompany of Philadelphia in 1868.The life of Franklin as a writer iswell treated by J. B. McMaster in avolume of The American Men ofLetters Series; his life as astatesman and diplomat, by J. T.Morse, American Statesmen Series,

one volume; Houghton, MifflinCompany publish both books. Amore exhaustive account of the lifeand times of Franklin may be foundin James Parton's Life and Times ofBenjamin Franklin (2 vols., NewYork, 1864). Paul Leicester Ford'sThe Many-Sided Franklin is a mostchatty and readable book, repletewith anecdotes and excellently andfully illustrated. An excellentcriticism by Woodrow Wilsonintroduces an edition of theAutobiography in The Century

Classics (Century Co., New York,1901). Interesting magazine articlesare those of E. E. Hale, ChristianExaminer, lxxi, 447; W. P. Trent,McClure's Magazine, viii, 273;John Hay, The Century Magazine,lxxi, 447.

See also the histories of Americanliterature by C. F. Richardson,Moses Coit Tyler, BranderMatthews, John Nichol, and BarrettWendell, as well as the variousencyclopedias. An excellentbibliography of Franklin is that of

Paul Leicester Ford, entitled A Listof Books Written by, or Relating toBenjamin Franklin (New York,1889).

The following list of Franklin'sworks contains the more interestingpublications, together with the datesof first issue.

1722. Dogood Papers.Letters in the style ofAddison's Spectator,contributed to JamesFranklin's newspaper and

signed "Silence Dogood."1729. The Busybody.

A series of essayspublished in Bradford'sPhiladelphia WeeklyMercury, six of which onlyare ascribed to Franklin.They are essays onmorality, philosophy andpolitics, similar to theDogood Papers.

1729. A Modest Enquiry into theNature and Necessity of aPaper Currency.

1732.to1757.

Prefaces to Poor Richard'sAlmanac.

Among these are Hints forthose that would be Rich,1737; and Plan for savingone hundred thousandpounds to New Jersey,1756.

1743. A Proposal for PromotingUseful Knowledge Amongthe British Plantations inAmerica.

"This paper appears tocontain the first suggestion,

in any public form, for anAmerican PhilosophicalSociety." Sparks.

1744. An Account of the NewInvented PennsylvaniaFire-Places.

1749. Proposals Relating to theEducation of Youth inPennsylvania.

Contains the plan for theschool which later becamethe University ofPennsylvania.

1752. Electrical Kite.

A description of the famouskite experiment, firstwritten in a letter to PeterCollinson, dated Oct. 19,1752, which was publishedlater in the same year inThe Gentleman'sMagazine

1754. Plan of Union.A plan for the union of thecolonies presented to thecolonial convention atAlbany.

1755. A Dialogue Between X, Y

and Z.An appeal to enlist in theprovincial army for thedefense of Pennsylvania.

1758. Father Abraham's Speech.Published as a preface toPoor Richard's Almanacand gathering into onewriting the maxims of PoorRichard, which had alreadyappeared in previousnumbers of the Almanac.The Speech was afterwardspublished in pamphlet form

as the Way to Wealth.1760. Of the Means of disposing

the enemy to Peace.A satirical plea forprocecution of the waragainst France,

1760. The Interest of GreatBritain Considered, withregard to her Colonies,and the Acquisitions ofCanada and Guadaloupe.

1764. Cool Thoughts on thePresent Situation of ourPublic Affairs.

A pamphlet favoring aRoyal Government forPennsylvania in exchangefor that of the Proprietors.

1766. The Examination of DoctorBenjamin Franklin, etc.,in The British House ofCommons, Relative toThe Repeal of TheAmerican Stamp Act.

1766. Rules by which A GreatEmpire May Be Reducedto a Small One.

Some twenty satirical rules

embodying the line ofconduct England waspursuing with America.

1773. An Edict of The King ofPrussia.

A satire in which the Kingof Prussia was made totreat England as Englandwas treating Americabecause England wasoriginally settled byGermans.

1777. Comparison of GreatBritain and the United

States in Regard to theBasis of Credit in TheTwo Countries.

One of several similarpamphlets written to effectloans for the Americancause.

1782. On the Theory of the Earth.The best of Franklin'spapers on geology.

1782. Letter purporting toemanate from a pettyGerman Prince and to beaddressed to his officer in

Command in America.1785. On the Causes and Cure of

Smoky Chimneys.1786. Retort Courteous. Sending Felons to America.

Answers to the Britishclamor for the payment ofAmerican debts.

1789. Address to the Public fromthe Pennsylvania Societyfor Promoting Abolitionof Slavery.

1789. An Account of the Supremest

Court of Judicature inPennsylvania, viz. TheCourt of the Press.

1790. Martin's Account of hisConsulship.

A parody of a pro-slaveryspeech in Congress.

1791. Autobiography.The first edition.

1818. Bagatelles.The Bagatelles were firstpublished in 1818 inWilliam Temple Franklin'sedition of his grandfather's

works. The following arethe most famous of theseessays and the dates whenthey were written:

1774? A Parable AgainstPersecution.

Franklin called this

the LI Chapter ofGenesis.

1774? A Parable on BrotherlyLove.

1778 The Ephemera, anEmblem of HumanLife.

A new rendition of anearlier essay onHuman Vanity.

1779 The Story of theWhistle.

1779? The Levee.

1779? Proposed New Versionof the Bible.

Part of the firstchapter of Jobmodernized.

(1779 Published) The Moralsof Chess.

1780?

The Handsome andDeformed Leg.

1780 Dialogue betweenFranklin and theGout.

(Published in 1802.)1802. A Petition of the Left Hand.1806. The Art of Procuring

Pleasant Dreams.

MEDAL GIVEN BY THE

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLSFROM THE FRANKLIN FUND

MEDAL GIVEN BY THEBOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FROM THE FRANKLIN FUND

MEDAL GIVEN BY THEBOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

FROM THE FRANKLIN FUND

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